:  i. :.\\.    yil\ 


FROM   THE   LIBRARY   OF 


REV.    LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D 


BEQUEATHED    BY   HIM   TO 


THE   LIBRARY  OF 


PRINCETON   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 


DMA*   C"S 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://archive.org/details/synodOOpatt 


^  APR  23  1932  * 


OF  THE 


Synod  of  Philadelphia. 

By  R.  M.  PATTEBSON, 

PASTOR   OF   THE   SOUTH   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,  PHILADELPHIA  J 


AND 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 


OF 


istiiigutski)  ^Umbers  of  tbe  f  poo  of  ^hitoMphw. 

y 

By  the  Rev.  ROBERT  DAVIDSON,  D.D. 


PHILADELPHIA  : 

PRESBYTERIAN    BOARD  OF   PUBLICATION, 

1334    CHESTNUT  STREET. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1876,  by 

THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE 

PRESBYTERIAN   BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Westcott  &  Thomson, 

Stereotypers  and  Ekctrolypers,  Philada. 


ACTION  OF  THE  SYNOD  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 


The  following  citations  from  the  minutes  of  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia  will  show  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  papers  embraced  in  this  volume 
were  prepared  and  are  published : 

Saturday,  October  17,  1874. 
The  committee  on  centennial  exercises  presented 
the   following    report,    which    was    accepted    and 
adopted : 

The  committee  appointed  to  consider  and  report  upon  the 
question  of  centennial  exercises  during  the  sessions  of  Synod 
the  coming  year  begs  leave  to  recommend  as  follows : 

1.  That  the  afternoon  following  the  organization  of  the  Synod 
be  spent  in  services  commemorative  of  God's  providential  deal- 
ings with  this  body  during  the  last  century,  the  particular  order 
of  these  services  to  be  arranged  by  the  committee  on  devotional 
exert' 

2.  That  these  exercises  consist  of  the  reading  of  appropriate 
scriptures,  of  prayer  and  praise,  the  reading  of  the  papers 
specified  below,  and  voluntary  addresses  by  members  of  the 
Synod. 

3.  That  the  Rev.  R.  M.  Patterson  be  appointed  to  present  a 
brief  historical  sketch  of  the  Synod  during  the  past  century. 

4.  That  the  Rev.  Robert  Davidson,  D.  D.,  be  appointed  to 
lent  brief  biographical  sketches  of  distinguished  members 

of  this  Synod  who  have  lived  and  died  during  the  same  period. 

3 


4     ACTION   OF   THE   SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA. 

In  pursuance  of  this  action,  the  discourses  here 
given  were  delivered  to  the  Synod  in  session  at 
Pittston,  Pa.,  on  October  22,  1875,  and  the  follow- 
ing minute  was  adopted  : 

Saturday,  October  23,  1875. 
Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Synod  be  ten- 
dered to  Messrs.  Davidson  and  Patterson  for  the 
interesting  and  able  centennial  papers  read  by  them 
yesterday,  and  that  copies  of  the  same  be  requested 
for  publication. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


OF    THE 


SYNOD  OF  PHILADELPHIA 


By   R.   M.   PATTERSON, 

PASTOR   OF    THE    SOUTH    PEESBYTEBIAX    CHCBCH,  PHILADELPHIA. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


OF    THE 


SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA 


THE  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  an 
organism  of  congregations,  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  commences  with  the  year  1705  or 
1706,  when  seven  ministers  who  were  laboring  as 
pastors  and  missionaries  in  Maryland,  Delaware, 
and  Philadelphia  with  the  country  surrounding  it 
in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  associated  them- 
selves  together  as  a  presbytery.* 

*  The  seven  pioneers  of  American  Presbyterianism  were 
Francis  Makemie,  Samuel  Davis,  John  Wilson,  Jedediah 
Andrews,  Nathaniel  Taylor,  George  McNish  and  John  Hamp- 
ton. The  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  as  constituted  in  1788,  cov- 
ered the  fields  in  which  they  had  all  labored,  bo  that  in  our 
history  they  really  belong  to  this  body.  It  is  well  known  that 
the  first  leaf  of  the  minutes  of  the  Presbytery  has  been  lost 
The  particulars  of  the  organization  are,  therefore,  unknown. 
But  at  a  meeting  on  October  27,  1706,  for  the  examination  and 
ordination  of  Mr.  John  Boyd,  Messrs.  Makemie,  Andrews  and 
Hampton  were  present,  and  Mr.  Makemie  was  moderator.  At 
the  first  regular  meeting  about  which  we  have  certain  infor- 
mation, and  which  commenced  March  22,  1707,  Messrs.  Wilson, 


8  HISTORICAL   SKETCH 

The  General  Presbytery,  thus  constituted,  con- 
tinued in  form  and  name  until  1716,  when  it  re- 
solved itself  into  a  Synod,  and  divided  into  three 
subordinate  meetings  or  Presbyteries.*     The  body 

Andrews,  Taylor  and  McNish  were  present,  with  four  elders, 
Joseph  Yard,  William  Smith,  John  Gardner  and  James  Stod- 
dard. Mr.  Wilson  was  chosen  moderator  and  Mr.  McNish 
clerk.  Of  course  the  names  of  these  first  recorded  members 
and  officers  of  the  Presbytery,  to  which  our  Synod  was  the 
territorial  successor,  should  be  embalmed  in  any  sketch  of 
the  Synod.  It  ought  to  be  added  that  particular  congrega- 
tions had  been  in  existence  for  some  time.  "  The  early  history 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country  is  involved  in  no 
little  obscurity,  owing  principally  to  the  fact  that  those  who 
originally  composed  it,  instead  of  forming  a  compact  commu- 
nity, were  widely  scattered  throughout  the  different  colonies. 
It  is  evident,  however,  that  several  churches  were  established 
some  time  before  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century.  In  Ma- 
ryland there  were  the  churches  of  Rehoboth,  Snow  Hill,  Upper 
Marlborough,  Monokin  and  Wicomico,  the  first  mentioned  of 
which  is  commonly  considered  the  oldest,  and  wTas  probably 
formed  several  years  before  1690.  The  church  on  Elizabeth 
River,  in  Virginia,  is  supposed  by  some  to  date  back  to  nearly 
the  same  period,  but  the  exact  time  of  its  origin  cannot  be  as- 
certained. The  churches  in  Freehold  and  Woodbridge,  N.  J., 
were  constituted  in  1G92,  and  the  first  church  in  Philadelphia, 
as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  in  1698.  In  New  Castle,  Del., 
in  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  in  some  other  places,  Presbyterian 
churches  were  planted  at  a  very  early  period." — Dr.  Sprague's 
Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  iii.  xi. 

*Tlie  resolution  of  1716  provided  for  four  Presbyteries — Phil- 
adelphia, New  Castle,  Snow  Hill  and  Long  Island;  but  Snow 
Hill  was  never  organized.  "The  Presbytery  of  Long  Island 
embraced  the  province  of  New  York  ;  Philadelphia  Presbytery 
covered  East  and  West  Jersey  and  so  much  of  Pennsylvania  as 
lay  north  of  the  great  valley.     All  the  other  churches  belonged 


OF  THE  BYKOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  9 

under  its  new  designation  mot  September  17,  1717. 
The  Rev.  Jedediah  Andrew-  was  its  firat  moderator, 
and  the  Rev.  Robert  Wbtherspoon  its  first  clerk. 

The  number  of  ministers  in  the  organization  had 
increased  to  seventeen,  of  whom  thirteen,  with  F*ix 
ruling  elder-,  were  present  at  the  constitution  of 
the  body.  The  territory  occupied  by  them  ex- 
tended along  the  Atlantic  slope  from  Long  Island 
to  Virginia. 

The  Synod  grew  slowly  in  numbers  and  extent. 
After  an  existence  of  seventy-two  years,  during 
which  it  was  in  1745  unhappily  divided  into  two 
rival  bodies,  but  happily  reunited  in  1758  as  the 
Synod  of  Xew  York  and  Philadelphia — blessed  by 
the  great  revival  of  the  last  century  and  injured  by 
the  dissensions  that  marred  the  movement;  battered 
by  the  storm  of  the  Revolution,  but  coming  out  of 
it  crowned  with  honor — it  transformed  itself  in 
L788  into  a  General  Assembly,  and  constituted  the 
four  subordinate  Synods  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  Philadelphia,  Virginia  and  the  Carolina-. 

A  hundred  years  ago,  therefore,  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia,  in  the  position  which  it  occupies  in 
our  fully-developed  ecclesiastical  system,  did  not 
exist.  When  the  Revolutionary  war  broke  out, 
there  was  in  the  country  the  one  General   Synod  of 

t'>  New  Castle  Presbytery,  tin-  project  of  forming  the  minister* 
oti  the  peninsula  between  the  Delaware  and  tin'  Chesapeake 
into  the  Presbytery  of  Snow  Hill  having  failed." — Webt 

II  *t</ry  of  tie  J'  •  soytmos  Church  in  America^  p.  95, 


10  HISTORICAL     SKETCH 

New  York  and  Philadelphia,  with  its  eleven  sub- 
ordinate Presbyteries  of  New  York,  New  Bruns- 
wick, Philadelphia  First,  Philadelphia  Second,  New 
Castle,  Donegal,  Lewes,  Hanover,  Orange,  Dutchess 
and  Suffolk.  The  number  of  congregations  and 
communicants  who  were  under  the  care  of  those 
Presbyteries  cannot  be  given.  They  had  about 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five  ministerial  members. 
Verily,  the  colonists  who  were  precipitated  into 
the  weary  and  harassing  eight  years'  contest  were 
but  sparingly  provided  with  spiritual  leaders. 
From  Massachusetts  to  the  Carolinas,  among  three 
millions  of  people,  there  were  scattered  not  many 
more  Presbyterian  preachers  than  now  dwell  in  the 
midst  of  the  seven  or  eight  hundred  thousand  in- 
habitants of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  If  our 
country  were  to-day  supplied  only  in  the  same 
proportion  as  the  struggling  colonies  were,  it  would 
have  less  than  two  thousand  Presbyterian  minis- 
ters, instead  of  the  five  thousand  seven  hundred 
who  are  upon  the  denominational  rolls  North 
and  South,  which  were  one  and  ouodit  to  be  one 
again. 

The  numerical  force  of  the  whole  body  in  1788, 
when  its  various  organizations  were  developed  into 
their  present  form  and  relation,  was  sixteen  Presby- 
teries, one  hundred  and  seventy-seven  ministers,  one 
hundred  and  eleven  probationers  and  four  hundred 
and  nineteen  congregations,  of  which  two  hundred 
and  four,  or  nearly  one-half,  were  destitute  of  pas- 


OF   THE   SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  11 

tors,  and  many  of  them  were  only  the  shadow  o 
nam 

Of  this  force  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  had  un- 
der its  jurisdiction,  at  its  organization,  Bixty-seven 

ministers,  two  probationers  and  one  hundred  and 
thirty-one  congregations,  forty  of  which  were  desti- 
tute of  pastors,  while  a  large  proportion  of  the  others 
were  associated  as  collegiate  charges.     It  embraced 

five  of  the  Presbyteries:  Philadelphia,  with  thirteen 
ministers  and  twenty-one  congregations;  Xew  Cas- 
tle, with  sixteen  ministers  and  twentv-foiir  cons 
gations ;  Lewes,  with  six  ministers  and  nineteen 
congregations;  Baltimore,  with  six  minister-  and 
twelve  congregations;  and  Carlisle,  with  twenty-six 
ministers  and  fifty-five  congregations.  It  covered 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania  east  of  the  Allegheny 
Mountains,  the  southern  part  of  Xew  Jersey,  Del- 
aware, Maryland,  and  a  small  slice  of  Virginia. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Synod  was  held  in  the 
First  church,  Philadelphia,  on  the  third  Wednes- 
day, the  loth  of  October,  1788.  Only  sixteen  min- 
isters and  seven  ruling  elders  were  present.  The 
Rev.  John  Ewing.  pastor  of  the  First  church  and 
provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  preached 
the  opening  sermon  from  2  Cor.  iv.  5.     The   1. 

*  That  wafl  the  array  of  our  denomination  in  1788,  the  year 
in  which  our  national  government  wafl  formed.     Place  side  by 
side  with  these  figures  the  reports  which  show  the  pn 
strength  of  the  Presbyterian  Charch  North  and   Sooth:   241 
Presbyteries,  G394  ministers  and  licentiates,  and  I  " 
gations,  with  their  613      I      mmunicanta. 


12  HISTORICAL     SKETCH 

James  Sprout,  pastor  of  the  Second  church,  Phila- 
delphia, was  chosen  moderator;  and  the  Rev.  George 
Buffield,  pastor  of  the  Third  church,  was  appointed 
stated  clerk.  The  first  treasurer  of  the  body  was 
Isaac  Snowden,  who  was  elected  in  1789. 

The  closing  decade  of  the  last  century  and  the 
opening  decade  of  the  present  century  did  not  wit- 
ness any  decided  advance  of  our  forces.  In  1807  * 
there  were  in  the  whole  Synod  eighty -one  ministers, 
one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  congregations,  seven 
licentiates,  and  five  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  communicants,  and  the  reported  benevolent 
contributions  were  §1412. f  Thus  in  the  nineteen 
years  |  that  followed  the  organization  of  the  body 
there  was  a  gain  of  only  fourteen  ministers  and  a 
loss  of  three  congregations. 

It  took  the  country  a  long  time  to  recover  from 
the  desolating  influence  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 
The  churches  especially  had  been  in  every  way  in- 
jured by  it;  and  the  Presbyterian  pastors  and  edi- 
fices had  been  assailed  with  peculiar  venom  by  the 
royalists.  "  It  was  a  great  object  with  the  British 
officers  to  silence  Presbyterian  preachers  as  far  as 
possible,  and  with  this  view  they  frequently  des- 

*  That  was  the  first  year  in  which  every  Presbytery  made  a 
report  to  the  Synod,  and  also  the  first  in  which  the  number  of 
communicants  was  included  in  the  returns. 

f  The  sums  reported  for  similar  objects  in  1788  had  been 
£79  12s.  3d. 

%  I  cannot  give  the  statement  for  the  exact  twenty  years,  be- 
cause in  1808  the  reports  were  not  complete. 


OF   THE   SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  13 

patched  parties  of  light  horse  into  the  countn 
surprise  and  take  prisoners  unsuspecting  cler 
men."  *  Infidelity,  too,  through  the  French  asso- 
ciations of  th<  rnment,  had  become  fashion- 
able, and  was  blighting  in  its  influence  on  the 
country.  Moreover,  the  tide  of  emigration  was 
to  the  western  part  of  the  State  and  to  the  re- 
gions west  and  south-west  of  it.  The  increase  of 
population  there,  with  the  growth  of  the  denomina- 
tion, led  to  the  formation  in  1802  of  the  Synods  of 
Pittsburg  and  Kentucky.  But  the  legitimate  prog- 
ress  in  our  portion  of  the  vineyard  was  tempora- 
rily checked.  The  western  and  north-western  sec- 
tion of  the  Synod  was,  however,  a  sharer  in  the 
growth;  and  therefore,  in  1794,  the  Presbytery  of 
Huntingdon  was  formed  out  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Carlisle.  Three  years  later,  in  1811,  the  Presb}-- 
tery  of  Northumberland  was  also  erected. 

The  next  decade  was  more  favorable  in  its  ex- 
hibition. In  1817  there  were  in  the  Synod  one 
hundred  and  one  ministers,  ten  licentiates,  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-four  churches  and  nine  thousand  one 
hundred  and  fifty-five  communicants,  whose  reported 
collections  for  benevolent  causes  were  $1532.  This 
was  an  increase  of  one-fourth  in  the  number  of  min- 
isters and  congregations,  and  more  than  three-fifths 
in  the  rolls  of  communicant-. 

In  1827f  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  minis! 

*Futhey\s  "History  of  the  Upper  Octorara  Church,"  p. 

f  In  that  year  the  reports  made  to  the  Assembly  embraced 


14  HISTORICAL     SKETCH 

two  hundred  and  six  congregations  and  twenty 
thousand  communicants  were  reported.  In  the 
course  of  the  year,  one  thousand  one  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  new  communicants  had  been  added 
to  the  churches,  and  two  hundred  and  thirty-one 
adults  and  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty- 
nine  infants  had  been  baptized.  The  moneys  re- 
ported for  benevolent  objects  amounted  to  §5082. 

In  that  decade  the  membership  of  the  churches 
had  more  than  doubled. 

Ten  years  more  bring  us  to  the  threshold  of  our 
divided  house.  The  Synod  still  covered  substan- 
tially the  same  territory.  The  Presbyteries  of 
Philadelphia  Second,  Philadelphia  Third, and  Wil- 
mington, appeared  as  some  of  the  fruits  of  the  di- 
visive controversy  which  was  raging.  But  scarcely 
any  solid  growth  was  exhibited.  On  the  rolls 
in  1837  were  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  min- 
isters, two  hundred  and  twenty-four  congrega- 
tions and  twenty  thousand  and  sixteen  commu- 
nicants— an  increase  in  nine  years  of  only  fifty 
ministers,  eighteen  churches  and  sixteen  commu- 
nicants. 

In  this  respect,  though  not  in  as  great  a  degree, 
this  section  of  the  denomination  exhibited  the  con- 
dition of  the  body  at  large.  "The  growth  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country  has  never  been 

for  the  first  time  the  additions  to  the  communion  rolls  and  the 
baptisms  during  the  year. 


OF   THE   SYNOD    OF   PHILADELPHIA.  15 

more  rapid  than  during  the  first  half"  of  the  Bep- 
tennate   from   L830  to  1S37.     "In  the   preceding 

five  years  there  had  been  an  advance  until  then 
unprecedented )  but  even  this  was  exceeded  by  the 
results  set  forth  in  the  Assembly's  reports  for  some 
years  subsequent  to  1829.  .  .  .  But  the  rapid  in- 
crease during  the  earlier  portion  of  the  period  was 
largely  offset  by  an  actual  decrease  of  membership 
from  1834  to  1837."  * 

Internecine  war,  excited  controversy,  unhappy 
personal  alienations,  consumed  much  of  the  spirit- 
ual power  of  the  Church.  Even  a  good  man,  work- 
ing in  a  good  cause,  cannot,  while  unduly  excited, 
properly  concentrate  his  powers  and  accomplish  the 
largest  results.  Much  more  is  an  organized  body 
of  men  whose  counsels  are  disturbed  by  questions 
that  affect  its  fundamental  position  crippled  by  an 
inherent  weakness.  In  the  Church  of  Christ  peri- 
ods that  have  been  marked  by  doctrinal  and  eccle- 
siastical  conflicts,  however  necessary  those  conflicts 
may  have  been  for  the  maintenance  and  develop- 
ment of  the  truth,  have  not  been  times  of  peculiar 
spirituality  and  saving  growth.  And  on  the  field 
of  this  Synod  were  waged  some  of  the  sharpest 
struggles  in  a  contest  which  none  of  us  desire  to 
reopen. 

The  figures  that  I  have  given  for  1837  indicate 
the  strength  of  the  Synod   in  the  troublous  days 

*  Dr.  Gillette  "History."  The  total  membership  in  the 
whole  country  in  1834  was  1 ;  in  1836,  only  219,120. 


16  HISTORICAL     SKETCH 

which  preceded  the  division,  and  the  force  which 
broke  itself  into  two  for  a  generation.* 

A  few  temporary  changes  had  been  made  in  the 
constitution  of  the  body.  In  1823  the  Presbytery 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  was  formed  out  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Baltimore.  In  1833  the  Synod  of 
the  Chesapeake  was  constituted  partially  out  of 
this  Synod,  embracing  the  Presbyteries  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  Baltimore  and  East  Hanover; 
but  it  was  dissolved  in  the  following  year.  In 
1834  the  Second  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  and 
Lewes  Presbyteries  were  erected  into  the  Synod  of 
Delaware;  but  it  also  was  dissolved  in  1835,  and 
its  Presbyteries  reannexed  to  this  Synod. 

In  1838,  as  one  of  the  movements  resulting  from 
the  division  of  the  Church,  the  ministers  and  con- 
gregations belonging  to  the  Presbyteries  of  Wil- 
mington, Lewes,  Philadelphia  Second,  Philadelphia 
Third,  Carlisle,  Huntingdon  and  Northumberland, 
adhering  to  the  so-called  New  School  branch,  were 
set  off  from  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  and  consti- 
tuted as  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania.  It  met  in  the 
Eleventh  church,  Philadelphia,  on  the  11th  of  July, 
1838,  and  was  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev. 
E.  W.  Gilbert,  who  was  also  chosen  moderator. 
The  Rev.  John  L.  Grant  was  elected  its  stated 
clerk,  and  the  Rev.  Robert  Adair  permanent  clerk. 
Its  constitution,  however,  was  afterward   changed 

*  No  complete  reports  were  made  in  the  two  years  succeed- 
ing the  disrupture. 


OF   THE   SYNOD    OF    PHILADELPHIA.  l7 

so  as  to  embrace  the  Presbyteries  of  Wilmington, 

Lewes,  Philadelphia  Second,  Harrisburg,  Pittsburg 

and  Erie. 

The  strength  of  this  organization,  when  first  re- 
ported in  1840,  was  seventy-five  ministers,  eighty- 
seven  congregations  and  nine  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  seven  communicants.* 

The  same  year  the  membership  of  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia  was  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  min- 
isters, one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  congregations 
and  seventeen  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  communicants. 

The  new  Synod  of  Pennsylvania,  it  will  be  ob- 
served, extended  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia,  crossing  the  Alleghenies  and  reach- 
ing to  the  western  border  of  the  State.  But  in 
1843  the  ministers  and  congregations  in  the  Pres- 
byteries  of  Erie,  Meadville  and  Pittsburg  were  de- 
tached from  it  and  formed  into  the  Synod  of  W<  si 
Pennsylvania,  the  first  meeting  of  which  was  or- 
dered to  be  held  in  Meadville,  Crawford  county, 
on  the  third  Tuesday  of  October,  and  to  be  opened 
with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  D.  H.  Riddle. 

That  withdrew  from  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania 
nineteen  ministers,  thirty-five  congregations  and  two 
thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  communi- 
cants, and  left  in  its  bounds  sixty-six  minister-, 
sixty-eight  churches  and  ten  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  eighty-nine  communicants. 

*  There  was,  however,  no  return  from  Pittsburg  Presbytery. 
2 


18  HISTORICAL     SKETCH 

After  this  offset  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania  of 
the  one  branch  and  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  of 
the  other  were  in  their  territorial  extent  substan- 
tially conterminous. 

But  the  latter  body  grew  to  be  unwieldy,  and 
was  materially  changed. 

Within  its  bounds  the  Presbytery  of  West  Jersey 
was  in  1839  formed  out  of  the  Presbytery  of  Phil- 
adelphia. In  1842  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal  was 
constructed  out  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle.  * 
In  1850  the  Presbytery  of  the  Eastern  Shore  was 
set  off  from  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore.  Then,  in 
1854,  the  Synod  of  Baltimore  was  formed,  largely 
out  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.  It  was  composed 
of  the  ministers  and  congregations  in  the  Presby- 
teries of  Carlisle,  Baltimore,  and  Eastern  Shore, 
which  had  belonged  to  this  Synod,  and  the  Presby- 

*  There  had  been  an  older  organization  of  that  name  in  the 
Church.  In  1732  the  Presbytery  of  Dunagali  was  erected  "  in 
Lancaster  county."  It  grew  to  be  one  of  the  most  important 
and  pronounced  powers  in  the  denomination,  and  continued 
until  17S6,  when,  in  the  division  of  Presbyteries  that  was  made 
as  a  preparation  for  the  creation  of  the  Assembly,  it  was  broken 
into  tho  two  Presbyteries  of  Baltimore  and  Carlisle.  As  the 
latter  was  appointed  to  meet  on  the  day  to  which  the  old  Pres- 
bytery had  adjourned,  it  would  be  considered  as  the  legal  suc- 
cessor of  the  ancient  organization.  In  1S42  the  old  name  was 
restored  to  the  roll,  though  the  body  to  which  it  was  attached 
was  carved  out  of  a  Presbytery  that  covered  a  different  field. 
In  the  reconstruction  of  Presbyteries  after  the  reunion  in  1S70 
it  again  disappeared,  the  Presbytery  of  Westminster  being  con- 
stituted its  legal  successor. 


OF   THE   SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  19 

tery  of  Winchester,  from  the  Synod  of  Virginia. 
It  took  away  from  this  Synod  seventy-one  minis- 
ters, eighty-four  congregations  and  seven  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty-four  communicants,  leav- 
ing on  our  roll  six  Presbyteries,  one  hundred  and 
sixty-three  ministers,  one  hundred  and  eighty-two 
churches  and  twenty-five  thousand  three  hundred 
and  forty-two  communicants. 

The  two  Synods  of  Philadelphia  and  Pennsylva- 
nia continued  without  any  further  lessening  of  their 
territory  during  the  rest  of  the  days  of  their  sepa- 
ration. In  1870,  the  year  of  the  reunion,  the  latter 
reported  five  Presbyteries  (the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, Harrisburg,  Philadelphia  Third,  Philadelphia 
Fourth  and  Wilmington),  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
ministers,  ninety-six  churches  and  seventeen  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  and  thirty-four  communicant-: 
and  the  former, eight  Presbyteries  (Donegal,  Hunt- 
ingdon, Xew  Castle,  Philadelphia,  Philadelphia 
Central,  Philadelphia  Second  and  Shanghai),  two 
hundred  and  forty-four  ministers,  three  hundred 
and  twenty  churches  and  thirty-two  thousand  three 
hundred  and  ninety-eight  communicants. 

The  reunited  Assembly  reconstructed  its  Synods 
and  Presbyteries  almost  invariably  by  State  and 
county  lines.  Blending  together  the  main  portions 
of  the  Synods  of  Philadelphia  and  Pennsylvania,  it 
reconstituted  them  in  the  present  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia as  their  legal  successor,  but  limited  if  in 
territory  to  the  eastern  quarter  of  the  State  of  Penn- 


20  HISTORICAL     SKETCH 

sylvania,  so  as  to  embrace  the  ministers  and  con- 
gregations in  the  counties  of  Bradford,  Sullivan, 
Luzerne,  Schuylkill,  Lebanon,  York,  Wayne,  Pike,* 
Monroe,  Northampton,  Lehigh,  Bucks,  Montgom- 
ery, Chester,  Delaware  and  Philadelphia.  To  it 
was  also  attached  the  missionary  Presbytery  of  West- 
ern Africa. 

This  detached  the  important  portions  of  the  old 
Synods  that  were  embraced  in  the  Presbyteries  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  Harrisburg,  Wilmington, 
Huntingdon  and  Xew  Castle,  and  placed  them, 
with  several  churches  in  Xew  Jersey  that  had  been 
connected  with  the  Philadelphia  Presbyteries,  in 
the  reconstructed  Synods  of  Harrisburg,  Baltimore 
and  Xew  Jersey.  On  the  other  hand,  it  included 
the  ministers  and  churches  in  the  north-eastern 
portion  of  Pennsylvania,  which  in  the  Presbyteries 
of  Montrose,  Susquehanna,  Luzerne  and  Xewton 
had  been  in  the  old  Synods  of  Xew  Jersey,  and  of 
Xew  York  and  Xew  Jersey. 

Our  Synod,  thus  materially  altered  in  its  bounds 
and  modified  in  its  membership,  met  for  the  first 
time  in  the  Spring  Garden  church,  Philadelphia, 
on  the  21st  of  June,  1870,  and  was  opened  with  a 
sermon  by  (he  Rev.  Calvin  W.  Stewart  on  Matt, 
xxviii.  19.  The  Rev.  Elias  J.  Richards  was  chosen 
moderator,  the  Rev.  W.  E.  Moore  stated  clerk,  the 

*  Except  the  Mil  ford  church,  on  the  Delaware,  which  was  on 
special  request  connected  with  the  Presbytery  of  Hudson,  Syn- 
od of  Xew  York. 


OF   THE   SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  21 

Rev.  \V.  M.  Rice  permanent  clerk,  and  the  Hon. 
.1.  Ross  Snowden  treasurer. 

That  meeting  in  June  was  held  under  the  order 
of  tin4  Assembly,  merely  to  reconstruct  the  Pres- 
byteries and  to  organize  the  body  for  it-  future 
operation-.      Saving    performed   these  duties, f  it 

Mr.  Moore  having  afterward  removed  from  the  bounds  of 
the  Synod,  the  Rev.  W.  M.  Rice  was  chosen  stated  clerk  and 
the  Rev.  B.  B.  Hotchkin  permanent  clerk.  They  still  hold 
those  office^. 

v  The   following  is   die   text  of  the  act   reconstructing  the 
Presbyteik- : 

ACT  CONSTITUTING   THE    PRESBYTERIES    OF  THE 
SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA. 

In  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  as  constituted  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  1S70,  viz.:  uThe  Synod  of  Philadelphia  is  hereby 
constituted  to  consist  of  the  Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Pit 
teries  included  in  the  district  between  the  eastern  line  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  the  western  lines  of  the  counties  of  Bradford, 
Sullivan.  Luzerne,  Schuylkill,  Lebanon  and  York;  and  to  it 
is  also  attached  the  Presbytery  of  Western  Africa,  to  meet  on 
the  21st  day  of  June,  1870,  at  8  p.  >r.,  in  Spring  Garden  church, 
Philadelphia,  and  to  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  C. 

W.  Stew  irt,  or  in  his  absence  by .    And  the  Synod  of 

Philadelphia  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of 
the  Synods  of  Philadelphia  and  Pennsylvania,  anil,  as  such, 
entitled  to  the  ssion  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and 

franchises,  and  liable  for  the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of 
tho  e  Synods'' — in  session  at  Philadelphia,  June  21,   1S70,  it 

R      lvedt  That   in   accordance   with   the  instructions  of  the 
ral    Assembly,    the    following    Pj  be    and    are 

by  formed  out  of  the  ministers  and  chart  astituting 

the  Synod  : 

1.  The  Prabytery  of  Philadelphia  South  is  hereby  constituted 


22  HISTORICAL     SKETCH 

adjourned  to  meet  in  the  First  church  of  Scranton, 

on  Tuesday,  October  18, 1870,  when  the  Rev.  James 
M  .  Dale  was  chosen  moderator. 

The  first  reported  strength  of  the  Synod,  in  its 
new  form,  was  made  in   1871.     It  had  then  eight 

to  consist  of  the  ministers  and  churches  in  the  city  and  county 
of  Philadelphia  south  of  the  centre  of  Market  street,  and  be- 
tween the  Delaware  River  and  the  western  line  of  the  city  ;  to 
meet  in  the  Spring  Garden  church  on  the  23d  day  of  June, 
1870,  immediately  after  the  adjournment,  of  Synod;  the  Rev. 
Z.  M.  Humphrey,  D.  D.,  or  in  his  absence  the  oldest  minister 
present,  to  preside  until  a  moderator  is  chosen.  And  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia  South  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the 
legal  successor  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Philadelphia  and  Phila- 
delphia Fourth,  and,  as  such,  entitled  to  the  possession  of  all 
the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  for  the  performance  of  all 
the  duties,  of  those  Presbyteries.  [The  word  south  was  at  the 
next  meeting  stricken  from  the  title  of  this  Presbytery.] 

2.  The  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  Central  is  hereby  constituted 
to  consist  of  the  ministers  and  churches  in  the  city  and  county 
of  Philadelphia  between  the  centre  of  Market  street  and  the 
centre  of  Allegheny  avenue  and  the  Delaware  River  and  the 
western  line  of  the  city  ;  to  meet  in  the  Spring  Garden  church 
on  the  23d  of  June,  1870,  immediately  after  the  adjournment 
of  the  Synod ;  the  Rev.  George  W.  Musgrave,  D.  D.,  or  in  his 
absence  the  oldest  minister  present,  to  preside  until  a  moderator 
is  chosen.  And  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  Central  is  hereby 
declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Central  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  and  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  Third,  and, 
as  Ruch,  is  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the 
rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the 
duties,  of  those  Presbyteries. 

3.  The  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  North  is  hereby  constituted 
to  consist  of  the  ministers  and  churches  in  the  counties  of  Bucks 
and  Montgomery,  and  in  the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia 
north  of  the  centre  of  Allegheny  avenue;  to  meet  at  Sh  a.m., 


OF   THE   SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  23 

Presbyteries,  three  hundred  ministers,  twenty  Licen- 
tiates, fifty-three  candidates  for  the  ministry,  two 
hundred  and  sixty-one  churches  and  forty  thousand 

on  the  23d  of  June,  1870,  in  the  Spring  Garden  church;  the 
Bey.  S.  T.  Lowrie,  or  in  his  absence  the  oldest  minister  pres- 
ent, to  preside  until  a  moderator  is  chosen.   And  the  Presbytery 

of  Philadelphia  North  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  suc- 
r  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and,  as  such, 
entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and 
franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of 
that  Presbytery. 

4.  The  Presbytery  of  Chester  is  hereby  constituted  to  consist 
of  the  ministers  and  churches  in  the  counties  of  Chester  and 
Delaware ;  to  meet  in  the  Spring  Garden  church  at  8]  A.  m., 
June  23,  1870;  the  Kev.  B.  B.  Ilotchkin,  or  in  his  absence 
the  oldest  minister  present,  to  preside  until  a  moderator  is 
chosen.  And  the  Presbytery  of  Chester  is  hereby  declared  to 
be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  and,  as 
such,  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights 
and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the  duties, 
of  that  Presbytery. 

5.  The  Presbytery  of  Westminster  is  hereby  constituted  to  con- 
sist of  the  ministers  and  churches  in  the  counties  of  York,  Lan- 
caster and  Lebanon;" to  meet  in  the  Spring  Garden  church  at 
8.1  a.  M.,  June  23,  1870;  the  Rev.  C.  W.  Stewart,  or  in  his 
absence  the  oldest  minister  present,  to  preside  until  a  modera- 
tor is  chosen.  And  the  Presbytery  of  Westminster  is  hereby 
declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal, 
and.  as  such,  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the 
rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the 
duties,  of  that  Presbytery. 

G.  The  Presbytery  of  Lehigh  is  hereby  constituted  to  con-i-t 
of  the  ministers  and  churches  in  the  counties  of  Berks,  Lehigh, 
Northampton,  Monroe,  Carbon,  Schuylkill  and  that  part  of 
Luzerne  south  of  the  Wilkesbarre  Mountain;  to  meet  in  the 
Spring  Garden  church   at  8J    A.  M.,  June  23,   1870;   the  Ji<  v. 


24  HISTORICAL   SKETCH 

two  hundred  and  ten  communicants,  [ts  Sabbath- 
schools  numbered  forty-nine  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty  members.  The  additions  to  the 
communion  rolls  during  the  year  had  been,  on 
examination  and  profession,  two  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  sixty-six,  and  on  certificate  one  thousand 
six  hundred  and  seventy-six.  The  baptisms  had 
been,  of  adults,  seven  hundred  and  thirty-seven,  and 
of  infants  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fortv- 
one.  The  moneys  raised  for  congregational  pur- 
poses amounted  to  $652,421,  and  for  benevolent 
causes  $310,703,  or  $963,124  in  all. 

To  complete  the  exhibit,  I  should  add  that  the 
latest  reports,  those  made  to  the  Assembly  through 
the  Presbyteries  last  April,  sum  up  as  follows: 
three  hundred  and  fifty-six  ministers,  nineteen 
licentiates,  fifty-eight  candidates,  two  hundred  and 
eiffhtv-eight  churches,  three  thousand  two  hundred 

J.  R.  Eckard,  D.  D.,  or  in  his  absence  the  oldest  minister 
present,  to  preside  nntil  a  moderator  is  chosen. 

7.  The  Presbytery  of  Lackawanna  is  hereby  constituted  to 
consist  of  the  ministers  and  churches  within  the  counties  of 
Bradford,  Susquehanna,  Sullivan,  Wayne,  Wyoming,  Pike  and 
that  part  of  Luzerne  north  of  the  Wilkesbarre  Mountain  ;  to 
meet  in  the  Spring  Garden  church  on  the  23d  of  June,  1870, 
immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  Synod  ;  the  oldest  min- 
ister present  to  preside  until  a  moderator  is  chosen.  And  it  is 
hereby  declared  that  the  Presbytery  of  Lackawanna  is  the  legal 
successor  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Luzerne,  Montrose  and  Sus- 
quehanna, and,  as  such,  is  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoy- 
ment of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  per- 
formance of  all  the  duties,  of  those  Presbyteries. 


OF  THE   SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA,  25 

and  two  additions  on  examination,  and  one  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  -even  on  certificate,  fifty- 
four  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-seven  com- 
municants, eight  hundred  and  eighty  adult  and 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-six  infant 
baptisms,  fifty-seven  thousand  three  hundred  and 
forty-two  Sabbath-school  members,  and  contribu- 
tions of  $1,069,155,  of  which  $724,200  were  for 
congregational  and  $344,955  for  benevolent  caw 

These  are  the  main  facts  in  reference  to  the  for- 
mation of  the  Synod,  the  changes  that  have  been 
made  from  time  to  time  in  its  constitution,  and  its 
strength  at  important  eras  in  its  history.  A  turn 
in  the  kaleidoscope  will  exhibit  some  of  these  i:  cts 
in  new  combinations  and  bring  up  others  that  will 
give  a  clearer  idea  of  the  progress  of  the  Churc  t. 

The  General  Presbytery,  formed  in  1706,  and  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  as  constituted  in  1788,  were 
almost  conterminous  geographically;  and  the  gen- 
eral history  of  the  denomination  in  our  country  is,  in 
its  commencement,  the  history  of  this  body.  Em  in 
its  increase  and  development  the  Synod  has,  as  we 
have  seen,  thrown  off  from  time  to  time  important 
portions  of  ii-  territory  and  large  elements  of  its 
strepgth  in  the  formation  «»i"  co-ordinate  Synods. 
A  comparison  of  the  reported  figures  of  the  ( 'hu  -eh 
in  that  territory  at  prominen  -  its  history  will 
show  the  growth  with  which  it  !i   -        a  favored. 

In  that  territory  there  were  in  1706  seven  min- 
isters and  probably  nine  >  >ns;   in    II 


26  HISTORICAL   SKETCH 

sixty-seven  ministers  and  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
one  congregations;  in  1807.  eighty-one  ministers, 
one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  congregations  and 
live  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty-two  communi- 
cants ;  in  1836,  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  minis- 
ters, two  hundred  and  twenty-four  churches  and 
twenty  thousand  and  sixteen  communicants;  and 
last  April,  in  the  fifteen  Presbyteries  which  now 
spread  through  it,  there  were  six  hundred  and 
seventy-two  ministers,  six  hundred  and  thirty-two 
churches  and  eighty-eight  thousand  six  hundred 
and  ninetv-five  communicants. 

Thus,  notwithstanding  the  immense  sweep  which 
the  population  of  the  country  has  taken  from  the 
narrow  Atlantic  slope  down  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
around  to  the  Pacific,  up  to  the  great  lakes  and  across 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  notwithstanding  the 
steady  missionary  extension  of  the  Church  through 
the  regions  beyond  its  narrow  confines  in  1788,  so 
firm  has  been  the  hold  of  the  denomination  on  the 
comparatively  small  section  of  the  country  which 
was  dotted  by  the  congregations  under  the  care  of 
the  Synod  that  about  one-seventh  of  the  strength 
of  the  whole  Church,  North  and  South,  is  found  to- 
day in  the  geographical  bounds  of  this  organization 
as  originally  constituted. 

If  we  confine  our  attention  to  the  part  of  the 
territory  to  which  the  Synod  is  now  restricted,  we 
shall  find  that  the  increase  has  been  even  more 
favorable. 


OF   THE   SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  '27 

Of  the  seven  ministers  who  constituted  the  Gen- 
eral Presbytery  in  1707,  only  the  Rev.  Jedediah 
Andrews,  with  his  church,  the  First  Philadelphia, 
was  in  our  present  synodical  hounds. 

In  1717,  of  the  seventeen  ministers  who  were  in 
the  General  Synod,  only  two  were  in  this  territory, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Andrews,  with  his  church,  and  the 
Rev.  Malachi  Jones,  at  Abington;  Montgomery 
county;  while  the  Great  Valley  church,  Chester 
county,  and  the  Neshaminy  church,  Bucks  county, 
were  destitute  of  pastors;  two  ministers,  therefore, 
and  four  churches.* 

In  1788,  of  the  sixty-seven  ministers  and  one 
hundred  and  thirty-one  congregations  which  were 
constituted  into  the  Synod,  eighteen  ministers  and 
twenty-seven  congregations  were  in  this  territory. 
They  were  as  follows:  In  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia, the  Rev.  James  Sproat  and  the  Rev.  Ash- 
be]  Green,  pastors  of  the  Second  church,  Philadel- 
phia; George  Duffield,  of  the  Third  church;  John 
Ewing,  of  the  First  church;  John  Simonton,  of 
the  Great  Valley  church,  Chester  county;  Francis 
Peppard,  of  the  Allen  Township  church;  Jai 
Boyd,Newton  and  Bensalem;  William  M.  Tennent, 
Abington,  Norrington  and  Providence;  Nathaniel 
Irwin,  Neshaminy;  James  Grier,  Deep  Run.    Pres- 

\.  -t  any  one  remember  and  be  misled  by  the  statement  of 
the  Presbytery  to  the  Presbytery  of  Dublin  in  1710  that  there 
then  five  churches   in    Pennsylvania,  it  Bhould   be  noted 
that  Pennsylvania  then  included  what  is  now  the  State  of  Del- 
aware. 


28  HISTORICAL    -KETCH 

bytery  of  New  Castle:  the  Rev.  Robert  Smith, 
pastor  of  the  Pequea  church;  Colin  McFarquhar, 

Donegal;  James  Latta,  Chestnut  Level;  Alexan- 
der Mitchell,  Upper  Octorara  and  Doe  Run;  James 
Anderson,  Middletown,  Chester  county;  Nathaniel 
W.  Semple,  Leacock,  Lancaster  and  Middle  Octo- 
rara;  John  E.  Finlev,  Fagg's  Manor;  Nathan 
Grier,  Forks  of  Brandy  wine.  Vacant  churches: 
in  Philadelphia  Presbytery,  Tinienm.  and  Perm's 
Neck;  in  New  Castle  Presbytery,  New  London  and 
Little  Britain  ;  in  Carlisle  Presbytery,  York  Town.* 

In  183G,  of  the  one  hundred,  and  eighty-two 
ministers,  two  hundred  and  twenty-four  congre- 
gations and  twenty  thousand  and  sixteen  commu- 
nicants which  were  embraced  in  the  Synod,  one 
hundred  and  sixteen  ministers,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  congregations  and  ten  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-five  communicants  were  in 
our  present  bounds. 

In  1870,  when  the  Synod  was  reconstituted  with 
its  existing  boundaries,  it  contained  three  hundred 
and  sixteen  ministers,  two  hundred  and  sixty-two 
churches  and  thirty-nine  thousand  five  bundled 
and  six  communicants. 

It  now  numbers  three  hundred  and  fifty-six 
ministers,  two  hundred  and  eiehty-eiffht  churches 
and  forty-five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  communicants. 

'■:-'  The  churches  of  Tinicum  and  Penn'tf  Neck  are,  I  believe 
the  only  ones  that  have  died  out. 


OF   THE   SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA. 

Thus    the    absolute    increase    has    been    larj 
More  gratifying  still   has  been  the  proportionate 

growth. 

In  L836  the  population  of  the  counties  which  arc 
now  covered  by  the  Synod  was  about  eight  hundred 
thousand.*  Our  communicant-  numbered  ten  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  and  ninety-five.  In  1870  the 
general  population  of  the  counties  was  one  million 
four  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  four  hundred 
and  ninety-four;  our  communicants  were  thirty- 
nine  thousand  five  hundred  and  six.  The  popula- 
tion has  not  doubled..  It  is  now  only  about  three- 
fourths  greater  than  it  was  in  1836.  Our  com- 
munion rolls  are  nearly  three  and  three-fourths 
larger  than  thev  were  then.  The  advance  of  the 
general  population  is  seventy-five  per  cent. ;  that 
of  the  Church,  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  per 
cent.  In  one  generation  the  proportionate  numer- 
ical growth  of  the  Synod  has  been  five  times 
ter  than  that  of  the  State. f 

[n  1830  it  was  six  hundred  and  ninety-four  thousand  and 
eighty  :  and  in   1840,  eight  hundred  and  eighty-six  thou 

•i  hundred  and  twenty. 

I    draw   the   comparison    with    1^7«>   because   we   have   no 

IS  returns  later  than  that,  and  I  wish  to  make  positive 
statements  rather  than  estimates.  The  other  year  embraced  i- 
1836.     I  select  that  because  then,  for  the  first  time,  the  mem- 

ip   of  the   individual    churches  was   published.     J'. 
that,  from  1807,  the  Presbyteries  forwarded  t<>  the  Assembly 
only  the  gross   number  of  members  in  their  bounds,  wit] 
specifying   the   number    in    each    church.     Of  c«  the 

Preshyterial    boundaries    \vcr<-     not    limited     by    the    present 


30  HISTORICAL   SKETCH 

This  comparison  of  communicants  cannot  be  car- 
ried back  to  the  organization  of  the  Synod.  But 
another  comparison  with  that  period  can  be  made 
which  is  equally  suggestive.  In  1790  the  general 
population  of  the  counties  was  two  hundred  and 
seventy-three  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eight ;  the 
Synod  had  been  ushered  into  existence  with  eighteen 
ministers  and  twenty-seven  congregations  in  those 
counties.  In  1870  the  population  was  one  million 
four  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  four  hundred  and 
ninety-one;  our  ministers  three  hundred  and  thir- 
teen, and  congregations  two  hundred  and  sixty-two. 
The  population  now  is,  therefore,  a  little  more  than 
five  times  what  it  was  in  1788,  while  our  ministers 
are  seventeen  times  and  our  congregations  are  nearly 
ten  times  more   numerous.     Relatively,  therefore, 

synodical  line?,  the  figures  could  be  obtained  only  from  the 
separate  sessional  records.  The  work  of  securing  them  would 
be  tedious,  even  if  possible.  But,  in  fact,  it  was  not  for  a  long 
time  the  rule  to  keep  sessional  records.  The  meetings  of  ses- 
sions in  the  last  century  were  often  informal  gatherings.  On 
the  communion  morning  the  pastor  and  elders  would  meet  on 
the  lawn  at  the  side  of  their  edifice,  and  beneath  heaven's  blue 
vault  receive  applicants  for  admission  to  the  Lord's  Table,  and 
make  no  record  of  the  fact,  though  the  pastor  would  keep  the 
total  number  of  members  that  were  under  his  care,  and  could 
mention  that  to  Presbytery.  Moreover,  minutes,  when  kept, 
were  not  always  taken  up  to  the  higher  court.  The  statement 
will  sound  strange  to  Presbyterians  of  to-day  that  as  late  as 
1824  the  First  church,  Philadelphia,  and  the  Great  Valley 
church,  Chester  county,  submitted  no  sessional  records  to  their 
Presbytery,  and  were  excused  on  the  ground  of  conscientious 
scruples  against  the  practice. 


OF   THE   SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA. 

the  people  are  now  twice  as  well  provided  with 
Presbyterian  churches,  and  three  times  as  well  pro- 
vided with  those  who  do  the  work  of  the  ministry 
in  them,  as  they  were  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Synod's  history ;  and  when  we  are  reminded  that 
the  edifices  of  to-day,  and  the  congregations  of  com- 
municants worshiping  in  them,  are  much  la: 
than  those  of  eighty  years  ago,  we  shall  feel  con- 
vinced that  the  number  of  members  has  propor- 
tionally advanced  much  beyond  that  of  the  con- 
gregations and  ministers;  so  that,  instead  of  the 
general  population  outstripping  the  churches,  and 
the  churches  less  and  less  providing  for  the  people 
and  drawing  from  the  world,  the  churches  are  rain- 
ing,  not  as  rapidly,  indeed,  as  we  should  desire,  but 
still  gaining  decidedly  on  the  population,  and  leav- 
ening it  with  the  influences  of  the  gospel  in  a  con- 
stantly increasing  measure. 

The  development  of  the  grace  of  liberality  in  the 
churches  has  been  in  a  greater  degree  than  that  of 
their  numerical  strength. 

The  five  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty-two 
communicants  in  the  Synod  of  1S07  contributed 
through  their  sessions  (1412  for  benevolent  obj< 
For  similar  causes  the  forty-five  thousand  -even 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  communicants  in  our 
churches  last  year  contributed  >'.*>  I 

A  membership  eight  times  larger  contributed 
two  hundred  and  forty-four  times  more  money. 
The  growth    in   the    money  column-   is   more  than 


32  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

thirty  times  greater  than  that  of  the  membership 
column.* 

Are  the  members  of  our  churches,  as  a  mass, 
thirty  times  wealthier  thau  they  were  seventy  years 
ago?  With  the  enormously  advanced  cost  of  liv- 
ing, which  must  be  considered  as  an  offset  to  the 
increase  of  income,  of  wages  and  of  salary,  are 
they,  in  fact,  any  richer  at  all  ?  Do  not  the  figures 
show  that  there  has  been  a  development  of  the 
grace  of  liberality,  for  which,  as  produced  by  God, 
we  should  glorify  him? 

Our  American  historian  has  declared  that  "a  rich- 
ly endowed  church  always  leans  to  Arminianism  and 
justification  by  works."f  Statements  should  not  be 
made  and  appeals  should  not  be  published  which, 
forgetting  the  struggle  for  life  that  the  masses  are 
compelled  to  wage,  and  censuring  the  poor  as  well 
as  the  rich,  tend  to  make  the  impression  that  a  de- 
nomination whose  peculiarity  is  its  Calvinism,  which 
magnifies  justification  by  faith,  and  whose  endow- 
ment is  found  in  the  voluntary  offering  of  its  mem- 
bers, is  running  behind  in  the  use  of  its  endowment 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  The  facts  are  that  the 
Presbyterian  Church  is  the  most  liberal  of  all  the 
denominations,  and  that  its  congregations  of  to-day 
are  in  this  grace  far  ahead  of  any  preceding  gene- 

*  The  reports  of  1807  are  doubtless  not  as  complete  as  those 
of  1875,  but  I  suspect  they  embraced  nearly  all  that  was  worth 
reporting. 

f  Bancroft's  "  Plistory  of  the  United  States,"  ix.  503. 


OF   THE   SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA. 

ration.  No  one  will  contend  that  it  has  reached 
anything  like  the  consecration  of  a  tithe  of  it- 
resources  to  God.  But  the  way  t<>  continue  its 
development  in  this  line  is  gratefully  t(»  make  prom- 
inent what  ha-  been  accomplished,  rather  than  t«> 
overdraw  the  failure  and  iill  the  atmosphere  of  the 
Church  with  one  monotonous  moan. 

An   indiscriminating   optimism    may  soothe  the 

conscience  by  too  rose-eolored  statements,  hut,  after 

all,  in  the  record  of  what  God  has  done  in  and  by 

his  Church,  optimism  is  more  honoring  to  him  than 

-:mi>ui. 

The  Synod  whose  rise  and  progress  has  thus 
been  incompletely  sketched  is  the  largest  of  all  tie' 
Synods  out  of  the  body  of  which  our  General  As- 
-    nbly  is  constituted. 

Though  I  have  not  the  full  figures  before  me 
now,  I  think  I  am  also  safe  in  saying,  from  my 
recollection  of  an  examination  which  I  made  some 
time  ago,  that  it  represents  the  largest  and  strongest 
religious  denomination  in  the  territory  which  it  oc- 
cupy 

*  Some  may  question  whether  the  papal  organism,  though 

not  anything  like  as  numerous  as  the  Protestant  denomina- 
tions combined,  is  not  larger  in  numbers  than  our  Presbyterian 
branch.  The  members  of  the  hierarchy  strive  to  make  the 
impression,  and  I  BOspect  it  is  commonly  received,  that  its 
growth  has  been  so  overwhelming  that  it  is  now  the  sir 
of  any  of  the  denominations,  separately  considered.  From  the 
official  reports  of  its  bishops,  I  am  prepared  to  deny  thi-.  I 
have  before  me  those  that  were  published  in  their  Us*  year's 
3 


34  HISTORICAL   SKETCH 

Its  growth  has  been  of  a  steady  and  solid  kind. 
This  is  due  largely  to  the  way  in  which  it  has  cul- 
tivated revivals.  Mention  of  powerful  awakenings 
is  frequently  found  in  its  annual  narratives  of  the 
state  of  religion.     They  have,  from  the  first,  been 

almanac.  The  counties  which  are  covered  by  our  Synod  com- 
pose the  papal  diocese  of  Philadelphia  and  parts  of  the  dio- 
ceses of  Harrisburg  and  Scranton.  It  is  well  known  that  their 
priests  are  largely  clubbed  together,  two,  three,  and  even  more, 
in  a  parish,  for  thoroughness  of  work  and  for  comfortable  ease 
in  the  doing  of  it.  They  report  "churches,"  " chapels "  and 
"stations."  The  chapels  are  generally  apartments  in  the 
churches,  which  are  reported  as  such,  and  are  thus  included 
twice  in  the  returns,  or  little  places  of  worship  in  their  schools, 
academies  and  theological  seminaries  :  while  the  stations  are 
spots  also  really  connected  with  the  churches,  and  visited  by 
the  priests  in  some  cases  (I  quote  the  reports)  "monthly,''  in 
others  "every  six  weeks,"  "every  second  month,"  "four  times 
a  year,"  "occasionally."  The  figures  in  our  bounds  are  two 
hundred  and  sixty  priests,  regular  and  secular,  and  two  hundred 
and  forty  churches — numbers  that  point  very  decidedly  to  a 
smaller  array  of  adherents  than  are  connected  with  our  branch 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

It  may  be  observed,  in  passing,  that  the  s:tme  generalization 
will  apply  to  the  country  at  large.  The  Presbyterian  is  by  no 
means  the  largest  of  the  denominations  in  the  nation.  In  the 
number  of  its  communicants  it  stands  third  on  the  list.  But 
the  one  branch  of  it  to  which  we  belong,  in  its  Northern  and 
Southern  sections,  is,  in  the  number  of  its  ministers  and 
churches,  far  ahead  of  the  papal  hierarchy  in  the  United 
States. 

Romanists  seek,  through  the  persistent  array  of  the  wildest 
claims,  to  carry  by  storm  politicians,  who  always  want  to  be  on 
the  strong  side.  Protestants  should  not  hesitate  to  reveal  their 
strength,  so  that  political  leaders,  who  look  at  votes  more  than 
at  principles,  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  by  it. 


OF   THE   SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA. 

looked    for.      Perhaps,   however,  a   •  «   in   a 

oral   letter  in  L816  sea  the  predomin 

i  very  large  proportion  of  the  body: 
the  thunder-storm  in  summer  excites  the  most 
tention,  it  is  the  continued  blessing  from  the  clouds 
which  replenishes  the  springs  and  makes  glad  the 
harv  3       :    the    husbandman."     The  General  As- 
sembly of  1817,  iii  passing  a  q  ensure  on  this 
utterance,  expressed  the  hope  that  it  was   not  in- 
tended  as  a  condemnation  of  revivals.     By  th 
who  wrote  it  the  intention   may  have   hern  to  i 
sure  some  revival  measures;   but  certainly  it  d 
not   necessarily  convey  a   sweeping  condemnation. 
I   think   it  will    be  found  that   in  this    solid   and 
substantial    and    constantly  advancing   portion   of 
the  Church,  it   has    been  the   happy  blending  of 
revivals    and    awakenings    with    the    weekly    and 
ordinary   culture    of  the   field   that    has    been    the 
means    of  adding  to   the    reports    of  conversions, 
and,  in  a  larger  degree  than  among  some  others, 
holding  on  to  those  who  have  been  drawn  into  the 
ranks  of  communicants. 

Much  of  the  power  and  advance  of  this  body 
ha8,  under  God,  been  due  to  the  prominence  which 
linisters  and  people  have  always  given  to  edu- 
cation. The  unwavering  friends  of  the  public-school 
system  of  the  State,  from  its  establishment,  they 
have  always  felt  the  necessity  of  providing  a  higher 
training  for  their  children,  and  of  leavening  edu- 
cation, from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  steps  of  the 


36  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

ladder,  with  the  influence  of  the  gospel.  Almost 
invariably  it  will  be  found  that  our  earlier  pastors 
Mere  teachers  on  the  weekdays  as  well  as  preachers 
on  the  Sabbaths.  From  the  first,  also,  they  labored 
to  build  up  the  higher  institutions  of  learning. 
Perhaps  it  is  not  to  the  credit  of  our  Synod  that 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania  and  Dickinson 
College,  which  were  once  largely  under  Presbyte- 
rian influence,  have  entirely  passed  away  from  it, 
and  are  controlled,  actually  or  substantially,  by  other 
denominations.  Doubtless  an  explanation  of  this 
will  be  found  in  the  close  connection  that  its  mem- 
bers have  always  had  with  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  which,  it  will  be  remembered,  grew  from 
a  germ  that  had  been  planted  in  its  bounds. 

It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  in  the  college  at 
Easton,  virtually  under  the  control  of  this  Synod, 
which  has  the  power  to  confirm  or  reject  all  appoint- 
ments made  by  its  board  of  management,  we  have 
an  institution  which,  in  its  endowment,  appliances 
and  instructors,  has  taken  its  stand  in  the  front 
rank  of  colleges;*  and  that,  while  the  various 
evangelical  denominations  are  represented  in  its 
faculty  and  among  its  students,  it  is  so  constituted 
that  its  Presbyterian  character  can   be  preserved. 

*  The  peculiar  relation  in  which  Lafayette  College  stands  to 
the  Synod  will  justify  the  following  statement  of  its  present 
condition  : 

The  catalogue  for  last  year  shows  an  attendance  of  three 
hundred  and  nineteen  students  in  the  regular  college  classes, 


OF   THE   SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA.  37 

Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that,  in   Lincoln  Uni- 
versity, memb  this   Synod   took  one  of  the 

the  freshmen  class  alone  numbering  one  hundred  and  fifteen. 
The  facility  of  instruction  consists  of  twenty-seven  professors 

and  tutor-.     Among  the  buildings  recently  erected  is  Pardee 

Hall,  one  of  the  finest  college  structures  in  America.     It  was 

ted  by  A.  Pardee,   Esq.,  of  Hazleton,  Pennsylvania,  at  a 

of  more  than  a  quarter  million  of  dollar-,  and  " consists 
of  a  centre  building  five  stories  in  height,  fifty-three  feet  front 
and  eighty-six  deep,  and  a  lateral  wing  on  each  side  of  the 
centre  building,  measuring  sixty-one  feet  in  length  and  thirty- 
one  in  width,  four  stories  in  height,  including  a  Mansard  roof, 
the  whole  terminating  in  two  cross  wings  forty-two  feet  front 
and  eighty-four  feet  deep  and  four  stories  in  height.  The  entire 
length  of  front,  in  a  straight  line,  is  two  hundred  and  fifty-six 
feet.  The  material  is  the  Trenton  brownstone,  with  trimmings 
of  light  Ohio  sandstone.  It  is  heated  throughout  by  steam,  and 
lighted  by  gas.  In  determining  what  rooms  were  needed  and 
the  best  arrangement  of  them,  similar  buildings  in  Europe,  as 
well  as  in  this  country,  were  carefully  studied,  and  liberal  pro- 
:i  has  been  made  in  all  the  departments  of  instruction  for 
every  aid  which  has  been  devised  for  the  most  thorough  and 
attractive  teaching,  and  also  for  the  prosecution  of  original  re- 
searches.—  Catalogue,  187-5. 

This  noble  structure  was  dedicated  with  appropriate  ceremo- 
nies October  21,  1873,  in  the  presence  of  the  governor  of 
Pennsylvania  and  other  State  officials,  and  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia, which  attended  the  exercises  in  a  body. 

The  college  has  secured  a  reputation  not  only  in  this  coun- 
try, but  in  Europe,  especially  for  its  Anglo-Saxon  and  the 
philological  study  of  the  English.  The  "  London  Athenaeum  " 
recently  said:  "The  studies  of  a  philological  character  carried 
on  in  Lafayette  College  are  not  surpassed  in  thoroughness  by 
those  which  we  are  accustom  wociate  with  German  uni- 

Lties.M     The  "British  Quarterly  Review11  (October,  lfi 
referring  to  the  same  philological  studies,  says  :  "  Nowhere  else 


38  HISTORICAL   SKETCH 

first  pronounced  steps  toward  the  preparation  of 
suitable  teachers  and  preachers  for  the  colored  race 
of  this  country  and  Africa. 

The  patriotism  of  our  American  Church  has 
never  been  blurred  by  its  adherents  or  aspersed  by 
others.  As  the  centennial  year  of  our  national  in- 
dependence approaches,  Presbyterians  are  not  com- 
pelled with  backward  step  to  cover  the  nakedness 
of  any  of  their  ecclesiastical  ancestors.  In  the 
times  of  the  Revolution  "a  Presbyterian  royalist 
was  a  thing  unheard  of,"  confesses  an  American 
Episcopal  writer.  Verily,  the  Presbyterian  who 
had  any  acquaintance  with  the  political  principles 
of  his  system  and  with  the  treatment  that  the 
adherents  of  his  Church  had  received  from  British 
royalty,  and  who  in  the  contest  which  tyranny  was 
waging  with  the  colonists  could  have  been  a  "roy- 
alist," would  have  been  a  "  thing."  The  mass  of 
the  early  Presbyterians  had  been  driven  hither  by 
persecution,  and  here,  in  every  colony  but  Pennsyl- 
vania, they  were  met  by  opposition.  The  persist- 
ent blindness  of  their  opponents  united  with  the 
essential  republican  principles  of  their  own  system 

is  the  subject  treated  with  equal  competence  and  success."  An 
interesting  feature  of  the  curriculum  is  the  " Douglass  Course" 
of  Christian  Greek  and  Latin.  Text-books  and  teaching  have 
been  provided  in  both  these  languages  co-extensive  with  the 
old  classical  course  composed  of  heathen  authors,  and  the  stu- 
dent can  take  his  choice  of  either  course,  devoting  the  usual 
time  to  the  philological  study  of  Greek  and  Latin,  if  he  pre- 
fers, without  using  any  of  the  heathen  writers  as  text-books. 


OF   THE   BYN<  »1 1   OF    PHILADELPHIA. 

to  make  them  the  stern  and  uncompromising  sup- 
porters of  American  freedom. 

The  Synod  of  177").  meeting  shortly  after  the 
battle  of  Lexington,  issued  a  pastoral  letter  to  the 
churches  under  its  care,  and  in  it  Bent  forth  these 
two  ringing  sentences:  "  Be  careful  to  maintain  the 
union  which  at  present  subsists  through  all  the  col- 
onies; nothing  can  be  more  manifest  than  that  the 
success  of  everv  measure  depends  on  its  being  in- 
violably preserved,  and  therefore  we  hope  that  you 
will  leave  nothing  undone  which  ean  promote  that 
end.  In  particular,  as  the  Continental  Cong 
now  sitting  at   Philadelphia  consists  of  delegates 

chosen  in  the  most  free  and  unbiased  manner  bv 

it 

the  body  of  the  people,  let  them  not  only  be  treated 
with  respect  and  encouraged  in  their  difficult  service, 
not  only  let  your  prayers  be  offered  up  to  God  for 
his  direction  in  their  proceedings,  but  adhere  firmly 
to  their  resolutions,  and  let  it  be  seen  that  they  are 
able  to  bring  out  the  whole  strength  of  this  vast 
country  to  carry  them  into  execution."  Then  the 
members  of  the  body  went  to  their  homes,  and  prac- 
tically showed  their  people  how  to  bring  out  that 
ngth.  But  for  them,  we  are  told,  "it  would 
often  have  been  impossible  to  obtain  recruits  to 
keep  up  the  forces  requisite  to  oppose  a  too  often 
victorious  enemy."*  "They  were  accounted  the 
ringleaders  of  the  rebellion."  "  Their  houses  were 
plundered,  their  churches  often  burned  and  their 
*  Futhey's  "  History  of  the  Upper  Octorara  Church,"  page  75. 


40  HISTOKICAL   SKETCH 

books  and  manuscripts  committed  to  the  flames."* 
Under  their  leadership,  inspired  by  their  ringing 
exhortations,  in  some  cases  led  by  them  in  person 
into  the  army,  the  members  of  their  churches  poured 
out  their  blood  like  water  and  offered  their  means 
upon  the  altar  of  their  country's  independence. 

Moreover,  in  the  establishment  of  the  permanent 
governments  of  the  colonies,  it  is  the  testimony  of 
Bancroft  that  "the  rigid  Presbyterians  proved  in 
America  the  supporters  of  religious  freedom.  They 
were  true  to  the  spirit  of  the  great  English  dis- 
senter who  hated  all  laws  that  were  formed 

" '  To  stretch  the  conscience,  and  to  bind 
The  native  freedom  of  the  mind.'  .  .  . 

"Nor  was  this  demand  by  Presbyterians  for  equal- 
ity confined  to  Virginia,  where  they  were  in  a  minor- 
ity ;  it  was  from  Witherspoon  of  Xew  Jersey  that 
Madison  imbibed  the  lesson  of  perfect  freedom  in 
matters  of  conscience.  When  the  constitution  of 
that  State  was  framed  by  a  convention  composed 
chiefly  of  Presbyterians,  they  established  perfect 
liberty  of  conscience  without  the  blemish  of  a  test."f 

The  territory  of  the  Synod  was  largely  the  battle- 
field of  the  revolution.  Upon  it  may  be  concen- 
trated many  of  the  descriptions  which  are  given  of 
the  war  and  of  the  conduct  of  Presbyterians.  Its 
ministers  and  people  were  among  the  most  pro- 
nounced in  the  colonial  service. 

*Gillett's  "History." 

f  "History  of  the  United  States,"  ix.  278. 


OF  THE   SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  41 

Dorner,  the  Berlin  theologian,  in  a  letter  thai  he 
wrote  to  the  Presbyterian  conference  which  mel  in 
London  in  1875,  said:  "The  Presbyterian  chum  bes 
represent  the  muscular  system  in  the  great  body  of 
evangelical  Christendom — the  principle  of  powerful 
movement  and  initiative."  Like  all  epigrammatic 
sentences,  the  assertion  is  not  exhaustive,  nor  does 
spress  a  rounded  truth.  But  it  has  a  most  per- 
tinent application. 

In  Eastern  Pennsylvania  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
by  its  intelligence,  by  the  means  which  it  controls, 
by  its  social  standing,  accompanying  the  system  of 
truth  to  which  it  is  pledged,  should,  under  the 
grace  of  God,  be  the  grandest  of  saving  power-. 
It  should  both  initiate  and  impel ;  and  it  should 
work,  not  for  itself  or  for  the  glory  of  its  own 
name,  but  for  the  glory  of  the  Redeemer.  There- 
fore, as  against  the  combined  hosts  of  Romanism, 
rationalism  and  immorality,  it  should  rejoice  in  the 
success  of  all  the  divisions  of  the  grand  army  of 
the  Lord,  letting  the  whole  force  have  the  benefit 
of  its  powerful  movement,  while  of  course  it  will 
specially  commemorate  its  own  conquests  under  the 
great  Leader. 

Humbly  confessing  that  it  has  by  no  means  done 
all  that  God  has  placed  within  its  power;  that  it 
has  not  overtaken,  as  it  should  have  done,  the  field 
which  it  is  its  grand  heritage  to  occupy  with  the 
other  branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ  :  that  much 
of  its  resources  have  never  vet  been  subsidized  in 


42  HISTORICAL    SKETCH. 

the  service  of  the  Lord, — let  it  magnify  divine  grace 
in  the  work  that  has  been  done  in  and  by  it,  and 
let  it  enter  upon  the  second  centenary  of  the  nation 
with  the  resolve  that  its  report  shall  be  brighter 
than  this  of  the  first. 

Note. — When  I  was  appointed  by  the  Synod  of  1874  to  pre- 
pare the  foregoing  sketch,  I  did  not  expect  to  be  absent  from 
the  country  during  any  portion  of  the  year,  or  I  would  have 
declined  the  appointment.  But,  in  fact,  the  five  months  which 
I  was  privileged  to  spend  abroad  covered  the  time  in  which  I 
would  have  prepared  the  sketch.  I  returned  almost  on  the 
eve  of  the  meeting  at  which  it  was  to  be  read.  The  search  for 
its  facts  and  figures  and  the  throwing  of  them  into  form  for 
presentation  had  to  be  compressed  into  a  few  days,  which  were 
also  much  occupied  with  domestic  and  church  duties.  Since 
the  delivery  of  the  paper  the  desire  to  have  it  speedily  in  type 
is  so  urgently  expressed  by  those  who  have  it  in  charge  that  I 
cannot  take  time  to  make  any  changes  in  it  or  additions  to  it. 
It  must,  therefore,  appear  in  its  first  and  hastily-prepared  form. 
I  make  this  statement,  not  as  an  apology  for  wrhat  it  contains, 
but  because  there  are  other  points  which  I  would  like  to  have 
presented  if  the  circumstances  had  permitted  it.  The  internal 
life  of  this  Synod  deserves  to  be  more  fully  written  than  it  has 
yet  been.  I  have  scarcely  been  able  to  touch  upon  it  in  this 
paper.  Matters  connected  with  our  recent  but  now  happily- 
healed  division,  I  have  deliberately  omitted  to  notice. 

K.  M.  P. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


OF 


DISTINGUISHED  MEMBERS 


OF    THE 


SYNOD  OF  PHILADELPHIA 

WHO  HAVE  DIED  DURING  THE  LAST  HUNDRED  YEARS. 

BY    THE 

Rev.  ROBERT  DAVIDSON,  D.D. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 


OF 


DISTINGUISHED    MEMBERS 


OF    THE 


SYNOD  OF  PHILADELPHIA 


THE  duty  that  has  been  assigned  me  is  to  pre 
brief  Biographical   Sketches   of  Distinguis 
Members   of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia   who   have 
died  during  the  last  hundred  years. 

The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  proper  did  not  come 
into   existence  till  1789,  when  the  old   Synod  of 
New  York  and    Philadelphia  constituted    itself  a 
General  Assembly,  comprising  the  four  Synods  of 
Neic  York,  Philadelphia,  Virginia  and  the  Oaroli 
The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  consisted  of  the  five 
Presbyteries   of  Philadelphia,   New   Castle,   L< 
Baltimore  and  Carlisle,  embracing  sixty-seven  min- 
isters and   one   hundred   and  thirty-one  oongtt 
tion-. 

By  this  time  death  had  made  "havoc  among  the 
prominent  members  of  the  old  Synod.  William 
Z5  iLwiit,  Sr.}  founder  of  the  Log  College  at  Nesham- 

40 


46  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

iny;  Gilbert  Tennent,  his  son,  the  friend  of  White- 
field,  who  dressed  in  a  loose  greatcoat  girt  with  a 
leathern  girdle;  William  Tennent,  Jr.,  of  Freehold, 
who  had  the  remarkable  trance ;  Beatty,  ancestor 
of  Dr.  C.  C.  Beatty;  Prime,  of  Huntingdon,  L.  I., 
who  had  come  over  with  his  fellow-clergy  in  a  body 
from  the  Congregotionalists,  ancestor  of  those  dis- 
tinguished editors  and  authors  the  Primes  of  New 
York ;  Francis  Alison,  the  learned  divine  who 
founded  the  school  at  New  London,  Pa.,  the  germ 
of  the  present  University  of  Pennsylvania ;  Steele, 
of  Carlisle,  who,  like  the  men  of  his  congregation, 
went  to  church  with  his  musket  by  his  side  for  fear 
of  the  redskins, — these,  with  other  useful  and  hon- 
ored divines,  had  gone  to  "the  general  assembly 
and  church  of  the  first-born,  whose  names  are  writ- 
ten in  heaven." 

In  the  year  following  the  erection  of  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia  proper  the  new  Synod  was  called 
to  mourn  the  loss  of  some  of  its  most  honored 
fathers. 

Dr.  Robert  Smith  was  born  in  Londonderry,  Ire- 
land, in  1723,  and  came  with  his  parents  to  this 
country  in  1730,  when  seven  years  old.  He  re- 
ceived his  education  from  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  of 
Fagg's  Manor.  He  was  ordained  pastor  of  Pequea 
church,  Lancaster  county,  March  25,  1751,  where 
he  remained  for* forty-two  years,  till  his  decease, 
April  15,  1793.  Other  accounts  place  his  death  in 
1790. 


SYXOD    OF    PHILADELPHIA.  47 

As  to  the  mode  of  his  cleat h  there  is  an  irrecon- 
cilable discrepancy  between  his  biographers.  Rich- 
ard Webster  recites  quite  a  tragical  ending.  He 
says  that,  returning  from  Philadelphia,  he  was 
found  lying  dead  on  the  roadside  in  Ch< 
county,  with  his  horse  standing  beside  him.*  Dr. 
A.  Alexander  states  that  he  was  returning  from  a 
meeting  of  the  trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey, 
and  was  overtaken  by  sickness  near  his  own  church, 
and  entered  a  friend's  house  to  rest  and  repaired 
to  a  private  chamber,  where  he  soon  after  quietly 
expired,  f  Webster  also  says  that  he  was,  at  his 
death,  in  the  seventy-first  year  of  his  age.  X  Dr. 
Alexander,  on  the  contrary,  says  that  he  died  in 
the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age.  §  "  Non  nostrum 
has  componere  lites" 

Dr.  Smith  was  a  man  of  superior  gifts,  an  able 
theologian  and  profound  casuist,  a  plain  preacher 
but  active  pastor,  and  all  that  he  published  was  a 
small  treatise  on  faith.  The  school  which  he  es- 
tablished at  Pequea  acquired  a  great  reputation ; 
but  he  is  better  known  to  posterity  as  the  father  of 
those  two  great  lights  of  the  Church,  Dr.  Samuel 
Stanhope  Smith,  of  Princeton  College,  and  Dr.  John 
Blair  Smith,  of  Union  College.     The  fact  of  a  father 

*  Webster's  "History  of  Presbyterian  Church,"  p.  G14. 
t  "Presbyterian  Magazine/'  v.  175. 
t  Webster,  p.  614. 

\  "Presbyterian  Magazine/'  v.,  p.  17">;  Sprague's  "Annals," 
iii.,  p.  173. 


48  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

and  two  sons  successively  elevated  to  the  mode- 
rator's chair  in  the  General  Assembly  is  without  a 
parallel.* 

The  Rev.  George  Duffield,  D.  D.,  was  born  in 
Lancaster  county,  Pa.,  October  7,  1732,  and  had 
Huguenot  blood  in  his  veins,  the  name  having  been 
originally  Da  Fielde.  He  was  educated  at  New- 
ark Academy,  Del.,  and  graduated  at  Nassau  Hall, 
N.  J.,  in  1752.  His  theological  studies  were  con- 
ducted under  Dr.  Robert  Smith,  of  Pequea.  After 
officiating  for  two  years  as  tutor  at  Princeton,  he 
was  ordained,  September,  1759,  over  the  united 
churches  of  Carlisle,  Big  Spring  (now  Newville), 
and  Monaghan  (now  Dillsburg).  Carlisle  was  at 
this  time  a  frontier  towrn  and  protected  by  a  gar- 
rison, and  the  church  at  Monaghan  was  regularly 
fortified  and  watched  by  sentries  for  fear  of  Indi- 
ans. But  Indian  warfare  was  not  the  only  warfare 
to  which  the  young  minister  was  exposed.  He  had 
warmly  espoused  the  sentiments  of  the  New  Lights, 
and  met  with  obstacles  from  the  Old  Side  party 
under  Mr.  Steele.  No  wonder  that  steel  and  flint 
struck  fire.  He  encountered  similar  opposition 
when  he  removed  in  1771  to  Old  Pine  Street 
church,  Philadelphia,  over  which  the  First  church 
claimed  to  have  some  jurisdiction.  To  such  a  de- 
gree did  the  disturbances  rise  that  the  aid  of  the 
civil  magistrate  had  to  be  invoked  and  the  riot  act 

*Sprague's  "Annals,"  iii.  172  ;  Webster's  "  History,"  p.  613; 
Van  Rensselaer's  "Presbyterian  Magazine,"  v.  175. 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  49 

read.     In  the  end,  however,  he  was  allowed  to  ex- 
ercise his  functions  unmolested. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  a  man  of  such  a 
polemical  turn  would  be  quiescent  during  the 
.Revolutionary  war;  and  accordingly,  besides 
serving  as  chaplain  of  Congress,  he  fearlessly 
shared  the  perils  of  the  army,  and  made  himself 
so  obnoxious  to  the  enemy  that  a  price  was  put 
upon  his  head. 

His  death  occurred,  after  a  brief  illness,  Febru- 
ary 2,  1790,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven. 

Dr.  Duffield's  excessive  buoyancy  in  youth  was 
never  completely  extinguished;  and  his  ardent  tem- 
perament made  him,  in  riper  years,  an  animated 
and  popular  preacher.  He  was  the  grandfather  of 
the  late  Dr.  George  Duffield,  of  Carlisle  and  De- 
troit. The  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by 
his  contemporaries  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
of  his  having  been  chosen  the  first  stated  clerk  of 
the  General  Assembly,  which  post  he  held  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  His  only  published  works  were, 
"An  Account  of  a  Missionary  Tour  through  West- 
ern Pennsylvania  in  1766/'  by  order  of  Synod,  and 
a  "Thanksgiving  Sermon  on  Peace,"  December  11, 
17s:].* 

Dr.  James  Sproat  was  born  at  Scituate,  Massa- 
chusetts, April  11,  1~'2'2.     He  graduated  at  Yale 
(  ollege.  Being  converted  under  a  sermon  of  Gilbert 
Tennent,  he  resolved  to  enter  the  ministry.     His 
*  Sprague's  "Annals,"  iii.  ISO;  Webster**  "History,"  672. 
4 


50  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

first  pastoral  charge  was  the  Congregational  church 
of  Guilford,  Connecticut,  where  he  remained  for 
twenty-five  years.  On  the  decease  of  Gilbert  Ten- 
nent  he  was  called  to  succeed  him  in  the  Second 
church  of  Philadelphia,  at  the  close  of  the  year 
1768.  Here  he  remained  till  his  death,  October 
18,  1793,  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age. 
He  fell  a  victim  to  the  yellow  fever,  which  was  then 
desolating  Philadelphia,  and  he  would  not  desert 
his  post. 

Dr.  Sproat  wTas  a  ripe  scholar,  a  well-read  divine 
and  an  amiable  man.  He  was  highly  esteemed  in 
the  judicatories  of  the  Church  as  a  weighty  coun- 
selor, and  his  name  is  found  on  the  most  import- 
ant committees.  His  only  publication  was  a  "Ser- 
mon on  the  Death  of  Whitefield."  He  was  the 
last  clergyman  who  appeared  in  public  with  cocked 
hat  and  wig.     (Sprague's  "Annals,"  iii.  125.) 

The  decade  from  1796  to  1806  was  marked  by 
further  diminution.  The  last  year  of  the  century 
witnessed  the  decease  of  that  eminent  divine  Dr. 
John  Blair  Smith. 

Dr.  Smith  was  the  fourth  son  of  Dr.  Robert 
Smith,  of  Pequea.  He  was  born  June  12,  1756. 
Converted  at  fourteen  years  of  age,  he  graduated 
under  Dr.  "Witherspoon  at  eighteen.  At  the  early 
age  of  twenty-three  he  succeeded  his  brother, 
Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  as  president  of  Hampden- 
Sidney  College  and  pastor  of  the  Briery  church. 
Becoming  convinced  that  his  proper  sphere  was 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  51 

the   pulpit,  lie   resigned  the  presidency  in    17s1; 

and  alter  preaching  some  time  without  a  fixed 
charge,  in  1791  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  Third  or 
Pine  Street  church,  Philadelphia.  Here  his  health 
foiled,  and  his  resolution  was  shaken.     While  on 

this  account  he  disavowed  all  fickleness,  he  accep 

the  presidency  of  the  newly-founded  Union  College, 
in  Schenectady  ;  but  on  the  restoration  of  hi-  health, 
he  returned  to  his  former  charge,  and  was  formally 
reinstalled  over  Pine  street  church,  May,  1799. 
But  his  stay  with  them  was  short  and  did  not 
vindicate  his  claims  to  prescience.  He  succumbed 
in  three  months  to  an  attack  of  yellow  fever,  and 
died  August  22,  1799. 

Dr.  Smith  was  an  extemporaneous  and  imp 
sioned  preacher,  and  powerful  revivals  occurred 
under  his  ministry.  Like  others  of  his  compa- 
triots, he  showed  his  faith  by  his  works,  and 
marched  at  the  head  of  his  students  and  other 
youths  of  his  congregation  in  pursuit  of  the 
enemy  in  the  lower  parts  of  A^irginia.  He  ex- 
erted also  a  great  influence  in  opposition  to  Patrick 
Henry  in  preventing  the  unequal  taxation  and 
assessment  of  the  Presbyterian  churches  in  Vir- 
ginia. He  left  no  printed  works  behind  him. 
Dr.  Smith  was  the  moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly  in  1  798. 

J<  was  born  near  Carlisle  in  1742. 

He  graduated    at  the  College  of  New  Jersey  in 
*  Spngue's  "Annate,"  iii.  3 


52  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

1764,  and  studied  theology  with  Dr.  Robert  Smith 
at  Pequea.  He  was  ordained  over  Rocky  Spring 
congregation,  near  Chambersburg,  April  13,  1768. 
He  died  April  20,  1799,  aged  fifty-seven  years.* 

The  old  church  at  Rocky  Spring  is  still  extant, 
and  is  a  curiosity  worth  visiting.  Though  some- 
what altered,  it  retains  substantially  the  pristine 
features.  The  aisles  are  paved  with  brick ;  the 
pews  are  straight-backed  and  of  unpainted  oak ; 
the  narrow  pulpit,  with  its  sounding-board,  is 
painted  light  blue  (symbolical  of  orthodoxy!);  the 
elder's  bench,  a  thick  slab  of  wood ;  the  commu- 
nion service  of  pewter,  from  London,  and  black 
with  age.  Two  ten-plate  stoves  of  the  most 
primitive  form  warmed  the  house,  the  stovepipes 
ascending  through  holes  in  the  ceiling  into  the 
garret,  whence  the  smoke  escaped,  without  any 
chimneys,  the  best  way  it  could.  The  side  door 
is  still  shown  where  Mr.  Craighead  stood  and 
harangued  the  men  assembled  in  the  churchyard, 
and  so  stirred  up  their  patriotic  feelings  that  they 
organized  themselves  into  a  company  and  went 
through  the  Revolutionary  war  with  their  pastor 
for  their  captain  and  chaplain. 

He  was  a  humorist,  and  the  anecdote  is  told  of 
him  that  one  day  a  cannon-ball  struck  a  tree  near 
which  he  was  standing  with  Mr.  Cooper,  and  a 
splinter  from  the  tree  nearly  prostrated  him. 

"You  narrowly  escaped  being  knocked  into 
*  Memoranda  furnished  by  Dr.  James  B.  Craighead. 


SYNOD  OF    PHILADELPHIA.  53 

staves,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Cooper.  "Yes/1  replied 
Mr.  Craighead,  " and  you  could  not  have  set  me 
up  again,  though  you  are  a  Cooper." 

Dr.  John  Ewing  was  born  in  Cecil  county,  Mary- 
land, June  22,  1732,  lie  was  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Fran- 
cis Alison  at  New  London,  Pa.,  and  for  three  years 
a  tutor.  In  1754  he  graduated  at  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  then  at  Newark,  X.  J.,  Aaron  Burr 
being  president.  Here  also  he  served  as  tutor. 
Hr  was  then  engaged  as  an  instructor  in  the  Col- 
lege,  afterward  University,  of  Philadelphia.  In 
1774  and  177-3  he  visited  Great  Britain  to  solicit 
aid  for  Newark  Academy,  Delaware,  in  which 
effort  he  was  quite  successful,  and  made  many 
friends.  The  University  of  Edinburgh  conferred 
on  him  the  degree  of  D.  D.,  and  Principal  Robert- 
son declared  he  had  never  bestowed  the  degree  with 
greater  pleasure  in  his  life.  But  very  naturally 
the  American  was  not  so  great  a  favorite  with  the 
high  tories  of  the  period.  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  in 
his  presence,  gruffly  abused  the  colonies  as  ignor- 
ant as  well  as  rebellious.  "What  do  you  know 
in  America*/"  -aid  he;  "you  never  read."  "Par- 
don me,"  replied  Dr.  Ewing ;  "we  have  read  the 
'  Rambler."  "  A  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath ;" 
and  the  ursa  major  was  at  once  mollified,  and  paid 
special  attention  to  the  guest  for  the  remainder  of 
the  evening. 

Dr.  Ewing  was  made  provost  of  the  University 
N- .  \  in'i  '•  Churches  of  the  Valley,"  page  211. 


54  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

of  Pennsylvania  In  1779.  He  was  a  thorough 
Hebraist  unci  an  accomplished  scholar,  capable  of 
supplying  any  professor's  place  at  a  moment's  warn- 
ing. He  excelled  in  mathematics,  assisting  Kitten- 
house  in  running  the  boundary-lines  between  sev- 
eral  of  the  States.  He  was  a  solid  and  instructive 
preacher,  and  much  esteemed  by  the  intellectual 
and  cultivated  portion  of  hfs  congregation.  Gillett 
places  a  high  estimate  upon  him  when  he  calls  him 
"the  leading  member  of  Philadelphia  Presbytery.* 

Dr.  Ewing  died  September  8,  1802,  in  the  sev- 
enty-first year  of  his  a^e.  His  lectures  on  natural 
philosophy,  in  two  volumes,  and  a  volume  of  ser- 
mons, were  published  after  his  death. f 

Dr.  Patrick  Allison  (no  relation  of  Dr.  Francis 
Alison,  though  likewise  of  Irish  descent)  was  born 
in  Lancaster  county,  Pa.,  in  1740.  He  chose  for 
his  patrimony  a  good  education,  and  after  graduat- 
ing in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1760 
was  made  professor  in  Newark  Academy,  Delaware. 
In  1765  he  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  church  of 
Baltimore.  Baltimore  was  then  only  a  hamlet  of 
thirty  or  forty  houses,  and  he  witnessed  the  growth 
and  expansion  both  of  the  town  and  of  his  church. 
He  remained  there  for  thirty-five  years,  till  his 
death,  which  took  place  August  21, 1802,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-two. 

"::"  Gillett's    "History    of    the    Presbyterian    Church    in    the 
United  States,"  i.  804. 

f  Spragiie'a  "Annate,"  iii.  21 G. 


SYNOD    OF    PHILADELPHIA.  55 

Dr.  Allison  was  noted  for  his  ardent  patriotism, 
his  blameless  character,  his  dignified  deportment, 

his  fine  scholarship  and  his  parliamentary  abilities 
in  the  councils  of  the  Church.  He  published  lit- 
tle, but  that  little,  which  was  of  a  polemical  nature, 
was  weighty  and  trenchant.* 

Dr.  Charles  Xisbet  was  born  in  Haddington, 
Scotland,  January  21,  1736.  At  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen he  graduated  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
and  studied  divinity  for  six  years  more,  when  he 
was  licensed  to  preach  in  1760.  In  early  life  he 
was  employed  as  tutor  in  the  family  of  Lord  Leven. 
After  an  engagement  in  Glasgow  he  was  settled 
as  pastor  of  the  large  congregation  of  Montrose, 
May  17,  17<>4.  Like  his  friend  Witherspoon,  he 
was  bitterly  opposed  to  t4ie  moderate  party  in  the 
Kirk,  and  lampooned  them  without  mercy.  He 
became  no  less  noted  as  a  friend  of  the  American 
colonies;  and  being  strongly  recommended  by  Dr. 
Witherspoon,  he  accepted  an  invitation  from  John 
Dickinson  and  Dr.  Rush  to  become  president  of 
Dickinson  College,  Carlisle,^Pa.  Here  he  remained 
from  July  4,  1785,  till  his  death,  January  18,  1804, 
in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age. 

1  >r.  Xisbet  was  a  man  of  strong  natural  abilities, 
but  these  were  so  overshadowed  by  his  extensive 
reading  and  prodigious  memory  that  it  is  by  tradi- 
tions respecting  the  latter  he  is  now  best  known. 
He  was  called  a  walking  library.  He  con  Id  recite 
*  Sprague's  "Annals,"  iii.  257. 


56  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

copious  passages,  if  not  whole  books,  from  the 
Greek,  Latin  and  British  classics.  A  gentleman 
once  made  a  quotation  from  the  ^Eneid  and  paused. 
Dr.  Nisbet  exclaimed,  "Why  don't  you  go  on, 
man  ?  The  rest  is  as  good  as  what  you  have  given." 
But  the  other  being  unable  to  do  so,  Dr.  Xisbet 
completed  the  passage  at  length.  He  was  acquaint- 
ed more  or  less  familiarly  with  nine  languages — 
Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  French,  Spanish,  Italian, 
German  and  Low  Dutch. 

His  wit  and  sarcasm  were  not  less  remarkable 
than  his  memory.  He  preached  memoriter,  and 
for  a  time  served  as  co-pastor  of  the  Carlisle  church, 
and  his  discourses  were  lengthy.  When  the  people 
complained,  he  said  that  a  long  sermon  was  a  long 
affliction  to  the  ungodly,  but  consented  to  an  agreed 
limit.  As  soon  as  the  limit  was  reached  he  would 
stop  short,  though  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence,  and 
say,  "But  your  how  being  oot,  we  insist  no  fur- 
ther." Like  Edmund  Burke,  he  took  alarm  at  the 
excesses  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  once  said 
that  all  the  imps  had  deserted  the  lower  regions  to 
help  the  French  Revolution.  A  lady  who  had 
imbibed  the  fashionable  infidel  sentiments  was  scoff- 
ing in  his  hearing  at  preaching  and  preachers  as 
lazy  and  good  for  nothing.  "Why,"  said  she,  "I 
could  preach  a  sermon  myself."  "  Suppose  ye  try 
it,"  said  Dr.  Xisbet,  "  and  I'll  give  ye  a  text :  '  It 
is  better  to  dwell  in  a  corner  of  the  house-top  than 
with  a  brawling  woman  in  a  wide  hoose.' "     The 


SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA.  57 

lady  was  incensed,  and  reproached  him  with  want 
of  courtesy.  "Do  you  mean  me?"  said  she.  "Oh, 
madam/1  rejoined  the  doctor,  "you  must  try  it 
again;  you've  come  to  the  application  too  soon." 
Some  one  expressed  the  hope,  on  hearing  of  a  young 
clergyman's  settlement,  that  it  would  be  a  perma- 
nent one.  "There's  nothing  permanent  in  Amer- 
ica," said  Dr.  Xisbet,  "but  revolution." 

Dr.  Xisbet  was  a  man  of  vast  learning,  united 
with  the  simplicity  of  a  child  in  worldly  affa  rs. 
But  his  proneness  to  express  his  opinions  without 
reserve,  his  satirical  turn,  his  fixed  European  habits 
and  his  want  of  flexibility  to  accommodate  him-  ilf 
to  the  requirements  of  his  new  position,  undoubt- 
edly proved  impediments  to  the  wide  and  beneficial 
influence  fondly  expected  from  his  transference  to 
America.* 

Dr.  John  Blair  Linn  was  born  in  Shippensburg, 
Pa.,  March  14,  1777,  and  was  a  precocious  boy. 
He  graduated  at  Columbia  College  at  eighteen, 
before  which  time  he  had  already  published  in  the 
periodical  pre>-  essays  in  prose  and  verse  and  writ- 
ten a  play,  which  was  acted.  He  commenced  the 
ly  of  the  law  with  General  Hamilton,  but  aban- 
doned it  in  disgust.  He  then  studied  theology  with 
Dr.  Romevn,  a  Dutch  divine  of  Schenectady.  After 
entering  the  ministry  his  great  popularity  secured 
him    many   imitation-,  but   his   choice   led   him   to 

Miller's    -Liu-  ofNisbel;"  Sprague's  -  Annals,"  iii.  450; 
Dr.  Davidson's  "  Funeral  Discourse  ." 


58  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

become  the  associate  of  Dr.  Ewing  in  the  First 
church,  Philadelphia,  June,  1799.  In  1802  he 
suffered  from  a  sunstroke,  from  the  effect  of  which 
he  never  entirely  recovered.  His  spirits  became 
depressed,  and  he  died  of  hemorrhage,  August  30, 
1804,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-seven. 

Besides  his  early  poems,  his  published  works 
were  a  "  Poem  on  the  Death  of  Washington,"  a 
"Poem  on  the  Powers  of  Genius/'  a  posthumous 
poem  called  "  Valerian,"  a  "  Sermon  on  the  Death 
of  Dr.  Ewing,"  and  a  "Reply  to  Dr.  Priestley's 
Comparison  between  Socrates  and  Christ."  The 
merit  of  this  reply  gained  him  the  degree  of  D.  D. 
from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Dr.  Linn's 
tastes  were  refined  and  poetic,  and  his  sensibilities 
exquisite.  This  led  him,  though  warm  and  gen- 
erous in  his  nature,  to  a  moody  and  melancholy 
state  of  mind  and  a  morbid  dread  of  death,  which 
was  only  held  in  check  by  a  deep  sense  of  religion.* 

Dr.  Robert  Cooper  was  born  in  the  North  of 
Ireland  in  1732,  and  at  the  age  of  nine  accom- 
panied his  widowed  mother  to  America.  With 
no  little  struggling  he  prepared  for  college,  and 
graduated  at  the  College  of  New7  Jersey,  under 
Dr.  Finley,  in  1763.  He  studied  theology  pri- 
vately, and  was  ordained  pastor  of  Middle  Spring 
congregation,  near  Shippensburg,  November  21, 
1765.  Here  he  remained  thirty -one  years.  In 
consequence  of  declining  health  he  resigned, 
*  Sprague's  "  Annals/'  iv.  210. 


SYNOD    OF    PHILADELPHIA.  59 

April    12,  1797,  and    died  April    5,  1805,  in  his 

seventy-third  year. 

Although  he  entered  the  mini-try  late  (at  the  age 
of  thirty-three),  he  proved  himself  a  wise  master- 
builder,  skillful  in  "the  orthotomy  of  truth/' 
Prior  to  the  era  of  theological  seminaries  he  had 
a  little  private  divinity  schooPof  his  own,  to  which 
many  young  students  repaired  with  profit,  as  Dr. 
McKnight,  Dr.  Joshua  Williams,  Dr.  Herron,  etc. 
As  a  preacher  Dr.  Cooper  was  solid  and  instructive, 
without  any  pretensions  to  the  graces  of  delivery. 
He  wrote  his  sermons,  but  did  not  use  the  manu- 
script in  the  pulpit.  He  was  unhappily  subject  to 
hypochondria,  which  finally  put  an  end  to  his 
public  ministrations.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that 
this  calamity  was  not  permitted  to  darken  his  last 
hours. 

His  printed  writings  were  a  tract  on  "The  Signs 
of  the  Times"  and  a  sermon  preached  before  the 
troops.* 

Dr.  John  King,  a  man  highly  esteemed  in  his 
day,  was  born  in  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania, 
December  5,  1740.  He  designed  to  study  medi- 
cine, but  was  dissuaded  by  Dr.  Francis  Alison,  and 
prepared  for  the  sacred  ministry.  He  was  ordained 
over  Conococheague  church  in  1769,  and  remained 
there  till  his  death,  July  5,  1811,  in  the  seventy- 
first  year  of  his  age.  Dr.  King  was  a  fine  specimen 
of  a    godly,    painstaking,    useful    and    respectable 

*  Sprague's  u  Annals,"  iii.  273. 


60  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


country  clergyman.  His  discourses  were  not 
brilliant,  but  logical  and  instructive.  He  Mas 
held  in  high  repute  both  as  a  theologian  and  as 
familiar  with  the  field  of  natural  science.  His 
brethren  must  have  esteemed  him,  for  he  was 
chosen  moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  in 
1792,  the  year  when, -for  fear  of  the  public  enemy, 
the  Assembly  met  in  Carlisle.* 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Irwin  was  born  at  Fagg's  Manor, 
Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  October  17,  1756. 
He  graduated  at  Princeton  in  1770,  along  with 
James  (afterward  President)  Madison.  He  was 
ordained  over  Xeshaminy  church,  November  3, 
1774,  and  continued  there  till  his  death,  March  3, 
1812,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age  and  thirty- 
ninth  of  his  pastorate.  A  shrewd  knowledge  of 
human  nature  and  an  uncommon  business  tact 
fitted  him  to  exert  a  great  influence  in  the  Church 
courts;  as  a  proof  of  which,  he  was  clerk  of  the 
old  Synod,  moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  in 
1801,  and  the  next  year  permanent  clerk  till  1807. 
Though  his  manners  in  private  were  stiff  and  un- 
bending, he  was  forcible  and  pathetic  in  the  pulpit. 
He  was  fond  of  music,  and  was  a  proficient  on 
that  unclerical  instrument,  the  violin.  He  was  of 
a  scientific  turn,  and  was  John  Fitch's  first  patron. 
He  also  took  a  lively  interest  in  local  politics,  and 
laid  himself  open  to  animadversion  on  account  of 
it.  For  several  years  he  held  the  office  of  register 
*  Sprague's  "Annals,"  iii.  281. 


SYNOD  OF   PHILADELPHIA.  61 

and  recorder  of  Bucks  county.  He  had  a  power- 
ful voice  and  a  long  head,  both  physically  and  in- 
tellectually. His  name  is  the  first  in  the  list  of 
moderators  without  a  title.* 

Filial  piety  may  be  pardoned  for  the  introduction 
of  the  next  name  to  be  presented  here  by  citing 
the  language  of  the  historian,  Dr.  Gillett.  He 
.-ays:  "Two  of  the  most  memorable  members  of 
the  Presbytery  were  located  at  Carlisle — one,  Dr. 
Charles  Nisbet,  president  of  Dickinson  College, 
and  the  other,  Dr.  Robert  Davidson,  a  professor 
in  the  institution  and  the  pastor  of  the  church."  f 

Dr.  Robert  Davidson  was  born  in  Cecil  county, 
Maryland,  in  1750.  He  was  educated  in  Newark 
Academy,  Delaware,  where  he  acted  for  a  time  as 
tutor.  At  the  age  of  twenty-four  he  was  appointed 
professor  of  history  and  belles-lettres  in  the  Uni- 
versity  of  Pennsylvania,  and  at  the  same  time  (1774) 
was  ordained  by  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  acted  as  assistant  to  Dr.  Ewing  in  the 
First  church.  In  1775  the  young  professor  com- 
posed a  dialogue  in  verse,  which  was  recited  at 
commencement  before  the  Continental  Congress. 
In  July  of  the  same  year,  a  month  after  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill,  he  preached  and  printed  a  spicy 
patriotic  sermon  before  several  military  companies 
from  the  significant  text,  "And  many  fell  down, 
for  the  war  was  of  God."   1  Chron.  v.  22. 

"Spi-ague's  "Annals,"  iii.  334. 
t  Gillett'-  "Hitfory,"  i.  314. 


62  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

In  1785,  being  now  thirty-five  years  of  age,  Dr. 
Davidson  removed  to  Carlisle  as  pastor  of  the 
church  there,  and  continued  in  that  connection  the 
remainder  of  his  life — that  is,  for  twenty-seven 
years.  His  benignity  of  disposition  and  exemplary 
character  helped  to  heal  previously  existing  aliena- 
tions and  consolidated  all  parties,  both  Old  and  Xew 
Lights,  in  uninterrupted  harmony.  At  the  same 
time,  mainly  through  the  influence  of  Dr.  Rush, 
he  received  the  appointment  of  professor  of  history 
and  belles-lettres  and  vice-president  in  Dickinson 
College.  He  was  chosen  moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly  in  1796.  Upon  Dr.  Nisbet's  decease,  in 
1804,  Dr.  Davidson  discharged  the  office  of  presi- 
dent for  five  years,  when  he  resigned  to  devote  him- 
self exclusively  to  his  parochial  duties.  He  died 
December  13,  1812,  in  the  sixty-second  year  of  his 
age. 

His  reputation  as  a  scholar  was  equal  to  his  in- 
tegrity as  a  man.  He  was  acquainted  more  or  less 
familiarly  with  eight  languages,  was  a  proficient 
in  music  and  drawing,  and  was  especially  fond  of 
astronomy.  He  invented  a  cosmosphere,  or  com- 
pound globe,  by  which  astronomical  problems  are 
easily  solved.  As  a  preacher  he  was  clear,  didac- 
tic and  free  from  affectation,  but  not  fluent  nor  apt 
to  rise  to  the  highest  flights  of  eloquence.  As  a 
wise  counselor  in  the  courts  of  the  Church  he 
ranked  fairly,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  important 
committees  on  which  his  name  is  found  in  the  min- 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  63 

utes  of  the  Old  Synod.  One  of  these  was  a  com- 
mittee, of  which  Drs.  Alison  and  Ewing  and  Messrs. 
Blair  and  Jones  were  also  members,  in  1785,  to 
prepare  a  new  and  more  suitable  version  of  the 
Psalms.* 

Dr.  Davidson's  published  writings  were  a  vari- 
ety of  occasional  sermons,  orations  and  poems.  Of 
the  latter  were  a  geography  in  verse,  which  the  stu- 
dents committed  to  memory,  and  a  metrical  version 
of  the  Psalms,  published  in  1812. f 

James  Incjli*,  J).  ]J.,  was  horn  in  Philadelphia  in 
1777,  of  Scotch  and  Huguenot  ancestry.  He  grad- 
uated at  Columbia  College,  N.  Y.,  in  1795,  at  the 
age  of  eighteen,  and  commenced  the  study  of  the 
law  with  General  Hamilton,  but  becoming  a  sub- 
ject of  divine  grace  abandoned  the  law  for  theol- 
ogy, which  he  studied  under  Dr.  Rodgers,  of  Xew 
York.  In  February,  1802,  he  succeeded  Dr.  Pat- 
rick Allison  as  pastor  of  the  First  church  of  Balti- 
more, where  he  continued  till  his  death,  in  1820. 
He  died  in  his  bed,  of  apoplexy,  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing, while  the  congregation  were  waiting  for  him 
to  commence  the  usual  services.  One  of  his  sons 
J-  Judge  John  A.  Inglis,  professor  of  commercial 
law  in  the  University  of  Maryland,  and  chief-jus- 
tice of  the  orphans'  court  of  Maryland. 

Dr.   Imrlis   was    a   sound   theologian   and    o-ood 

-  Minutes  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  p.  51  !. 
f  Dr.  Cathcart's  "Funeral    Sermon;"  Sprague'a  "Annals," 
iii.  322;  Gillett's  "History,"  i.  31 S. 


64  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

scholar.  He  was  one  of  the  most  polished  and 
elegant  orators  this  country  has  ever  produced,  ac- 
cording to  such  judges  as  Drs.  Stanhope  Smith, 
Dwight  and  Sprague.  He  used  manuscript  in  the 
pulpit,  but  was  not  slavishly  confined  to  it.  His 
perorations  were  composed  in  a  lofty  style,  and 
were  particularly  startling  and  impressive.  His 
prayers  were  premeditated,  and  not  less  devout  and 
solemn  than  his  sermons.  His  manner  was  stately 
and  not  familiar.  His  published  writings  wTere 
several  occasional  discourses  and  a  posthumous 
volume  of  sermons,  accompanied  with  forms  of 
prayer.*  Dr.  Inglis  was  moderator  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  1814. 

Dr.  John  McKnight  was  born  near  Carlisle,  Pa., 
October  1,  1754.  He  graduated  at  Princeton  in 
1773.  His  theological  studies  were  conducted  un- 
der Dr.  Cooper.  After  ministering  to  a  congre- 
gation in  Virginia  from  1775  till  1783,  he  was 
settled  over  Lower  Marsh  Creek  church,  in  Adams 
county,  Pa.  December  2,  1789,  he  was  installed 
colleague  pastor  with  Dr.  Rodgers  in  New  York. 
In  1791  he  was  elected  moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly.  After  twenty  years'  service  in  New 
York,  in  consequence  of  new  arrangements  made 
in  the  collegiate  charge,  he  resigned,  April,  1809. 
The  church  of  Rocky  Spring  solicited  him  to  be- 
come their  pastor ;  but  as  his  health  was  delicate, 
he  consented  to  be  a  stated  supply  only,  at  the  same 
*  Sprague's  "  Annals/'  iv.  278. 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA,  65 

time  declining  other    flattering  invitations    in  the 
B    fceof  New  York.     In  181-3  he  accepted  the  pres- 
idency of  Dickinson  College,  but  finding  its  finan- 
cial    embarrassments    in   a   hopeless  condition    r  - 
led  in  a  year,     lie  now  retired  to  a  farm,  and 
iched   as   opportunity  offered   until    his  death, 
>ber    21,  1823,  in  the    seventieth  year   of  his 
age. 

Dr.  McKnight  combined  the  dignity  of  a  cler- 
gyman  with  the  urbanity  of  a  gentleman.     A- 
preacher  he  was  biblical,  didactic  and  dispassionate, 
without  being  dull.     He  appears  to   have  been  a 
noteworthy  exception  to  the  rule  that  "a  prophet  is 

not  without  honor  save  in  his  own  country."     Six 

■ 

discourses  on  faith  and  several  occasional  sermons 
were  given  bv  him  to  the  world.* 

The  sixth  decade,  from  1826  to  1836,  witnessed 
the  (1  of  several  illustrious  men. 

The  Rev.  William  Ashmead  was  born  in  Phila- 
delphia in  1798.  He  graduated  at  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  in  1818,  and  studied  theology  with 
Dr.  James  P.  Wilson.  He  was  settled  in  Lancas- 
ter in  1820.  After  eight  years  of  labor  his  health 
gave  way,  and  he  sought  a  southern  climate;  but 
after  only  a  month'-  pastorate  in  Charleston.  S.  (  '., 
he  was  prostrated  by  bilious  fever,  and  died,  Decem- 
ber 2,  1829,  in  the  thirty-second  year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Ashmead  was  an  accomplished  scholar,  with 

a  line  taste  for  poetry,  and  skilled  in  linguistic  and 

.Sprague's  "  Annals/'  iii.  71  ;  "  Life  of  Dr.  S.  Miller." 
5 


66  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

metaphysical  pursuits.     His  style  was  remarkable 

for  beauty,  concinnity  and  a  felicitous  choice  of 
epithets.  He  left  a  quantity  of  MSS.  behind  him, 
and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  ensm^ed  on  a  trans- 
lation  of  Saurin's  u  Discourses."  His  only  pub- 
lished writings  were  a  sermon,  an  essay  on  pauper- 
ism and  a  posthumous  volume  of  sermons.* 

Dr.  James  P.  Wilson  was  born  in  Lewes,  Dela- 
ware, February  21,  1769.  He  graduated  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1788.  He  acted 
for  some  time  as  surveyor-general  for  the  State  of 
Delaware.  He  was  admitted  to  practice  at  the  bar. 
The  unexpected  death  of  his  wife  and  the  assassin- 
ation of  his  brother  before  his  eyes  made  such  an 
impression  of  the  importance  of  eternal  things  that 
he  quitted  the  law  for  the  pulpit.  He  was  ordained 
pastor  of  the  Lewes  church,  as  successor  of  his 
father,  in  1804.  In  1806  he  accepted  a  call  from 
the  First  church  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  re- 
mained till  his  resignation,  in  the  spring  of  1830. 
On  December  9  following  he  departed  this  life, 
aged  sixty-one,  at  his  farm,  near  Hartsville.  For 
some  years  before  his  death  his  infirmities  com- 
pelled him  to  preach  sitting  on  a  high  chair  in  the 
pulpit. 

Dr.  Wilson  was  characterized  by  a  few  eccen- 
tricities, but  they  were  overlooked,  or  only  excited 
a  smile,  in  view  of  his  sterling  worth.  He  was 
represented  by  Dr.  Ely  as  a  singular  compound  of 
*  Sprague's  "  Annals,"  iv.  641. 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  67 

pride  with  humility,  of  profoundness  with  simpli- 
city, and  of  severity  with  mildness.  As  a  preacher 
he  was  perfectly  deliberate  and  unimpassioned, 
handling  the  most  abstruse  subjects  in  a  masterly 

manner,  speaking  for  an  hour  without  the  least 
assistance  from  notes,  yet  drawing  on  the  stores  of 
a  memory  replete  with  recondite  learning,  especially 
of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers.  He  was  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  learned  divines  of  the  day.  He 
was  of  a  tall  and  lank  figure,  and  pallid  from  a 
habit  of  blood-letting.  His  published  works  con- 
sisted of  "  Occasional  Sermons/'  a  "  Hebrew  Gram- 
mar without  Points,"  "  Lectures  on  the  New  Tes- 
tament," an  edition  of  Ridgeley's  "  Body  of  Divin- 
ity, with  Xotes,"  treatises  on  church  government, 
on  which  subject  he  held  some  peculiar  notions,  etc. 
Dr.  Ebenezer  Dickey  was  born  near  Oxford,  Ches- 
ter county,  Pa.,  March  12,  1772.  He  graduated  in 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1792.  He  was 
settled  over  Oxford  and  Octorara  churches  by  the 
Associate  Reformed  Presbytery,  but  in  May,  1822, 
came  into  connection  with  the  General  Assembly 
along  with  Dr.  Mason,  Dr.  Junkin  and  others.  He 
remained  pastor  of  Octorara  till  1800,  and  of  Ox- 
ford, though  tempted  by  other  and  more  lucrative 
calls,  until  his  death,  May  31,  1831. 

"A  man  he  was  to  all  the  country  dear, 
And  passing  rich  on  forty  pounds  a  year; 
Remote  from  towns  lie  ran  his  godly  race, 
Nor  ever  changed,  nor  wished  to  change,  his  place." 


68  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

As  a  preacher  Dr.  Dickey  was  clear  and  well 
informed,  preaching  with  solemnity  and  unction, 
without  any  straining  after  oratorical  effect.  His 
manners  were  genial  and  unassuming.  He  was 
esteemed  as  a  wise  and  safe  counselor,  and  his  opin- 
ions had  great  weight  in  the  church  courts.  In 
short,  he  filled  his  niche  well  as  a  useful  and  re- 
spected rural  divine.  He  published  little,  only  a 
tract,  an  essay  and  "Travels"  in  the  "Christian 
Advocate.7'* 

Rev.  Joseph  Patterson  was  born  in  county  Down, 
Ireland,  in  1752.  He  manifested  serious  impres- 
sions at  a  very  early  age.  When  twenty  years  old, 
he  emigrated  with  his  wife  to  America,  and  taught 
a  school  in  Germantown.  He  heard  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  read,  and  fired  with  patriotic 
enthusiasm  gave  up  his  school  and  entered  the  Rev- 
olutionary army.  After  the  war  he  removed,  in 
1779,  to  Washington  county,  and  passed  through 
all  the  arduous  and  trying  experiences  common  to 
first  settlers  in  a  wilderness.  Such  was  his  charac- 
ter for  piety  that  the  popular  voice,  conjoined  with 
the  advice  of  the  Presbytery  of  Redstone,  induced 
him  to  study  theology  with  Rev.  Joseph  Smith. 
He  was  licensed  to  preach  August,  1788,  and  in 
April  the  following  year,  1789,  he  accepted  a  call 
to  Raccoon  and  Montour  Creek  churches.  He  was 
now  at  the  mature  age  of  thirty-seven.  Both  con- 
gregations so  increased  that  he  found  himself  com- 
*Sprague's  "Annals,"  iv.  133. 


SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA.  69 

pelled  to  restrict  his  labors  to  the  first  named  only. 
But  his  labors  elsewhere  were  also  abundant.  He 
took  sionary  tours,  and  one  to  the  Sbaw- 

[ndians.  In  L816,  alter  twenty-seven  and  a 
half  years1  labor,  his  growing  infirmities  obli 
him  to  resign  his  charge.  He  then  repaired  to 
Pittsburg,  where  for  the  remaining  sixteen  years  of 
his  life  he  employed  his  time  as  a  Bible  agent,  dis- 
tributing thousands  of  Bibles  anions:  the  emigrants 
and  boatmen.  His  active  and  useful  life  drew  to 
a  close  February  4,  1831,  in  the  eightieth  year  of 
his  age. 

Mr.  Patterson  was  a  man  of  prayer.  He  was 
a  practical  man  and  a  wise  counselor.  He  had  a 
word  suited  to  every  character  and  every  emer- 
gency. His  discourses  were  singularly  impressive 
and  experimental.  Without  the  advantages  of  col- 
lege education,  unaided  by  the  accessions  of  family 
or  fortune,  and  somewhat  advanced  in  life  when  he 
entered  the  mini-try,  by  the  force  of  native  charac- 
ter he  reached  a  degree  of  respectability,  usefulness 
and  influence  rarely  attained.  Pages  might  be 
filled  with  anecdotes  illustrative  of  his  peculiar 
traits. 

'.  John  Glendy  was  another  great  light  of  the 
>red  Baltimore  pulpit.     He  was  born  in  Lon- 
donderry, in  the  North  of  Ireland,  June  24,  1755. 
But  he  might  have  been  easily  taken   for  a  native 
of  the  South  of  Ireland  ;  for  if  any  man  might  have 
*  Smith's  a  Old  Redstone,"  page 


70  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

been  credited  with  kissing  the  blarnev-stone,  it  was 
Dr.  Glendy.  Exiled  by  the  British  government  for 
supposed  complicity  with  the  Irish  rebellion,  he 
found  an  asylum  in  America.  After  preaching  in 
Virginia  for  two  years  very  acceptably,  he  was 
called,  in  1803,  to  the  Second  church  in  Baltimore, 
expressly  formed  for  him  by  his  admirers.  He 
served  as  chaplain  to  Congress  in  1806,  1815  and 
1816.  His  growing  infirmities  led  to  the  settlement 
of  Dr.  John  Breckenridge  as  associate  pastor  in 
1826,  and  finally  compelled  him  to  resign  entirely. 
He  died  in  Philadelphia,  October  4,  1832,  aged 
seventy-seven. 

Dr.  Glendy 's  style  resembled  that  of  his  fellow- 
countrymen,  Curran  and  Phillips.  It  was  a  torrent 
of  eloquent  declamation.  He  fascinated  his  audi- 
ence and  commanded  their  rapt  attention  by  his 
graceful,  ornate  and  fluent  rhetoric.  He  was  neat 
in  his  dress,  and  wore  his  hair  curled  and  pow- 
dered. His  manners  were  courtly,  and  he  was  pro- 
fuse in  the  language  of  compliment.  He  was  never 
oblivious  that  he  was  Dr.  Glendy.  At  one  time 
he  was  very  popular  and  admired,  and  crowds  ran 
after  him.  But  candor  compels  us  to  admit  that 
he  was  not  regarded  as  a  spiritually-minded  clergy- 
man ;  and  though  not  deficient  in  orthodoxy,  his 
preaching  was  not  calculated  to  awaken  sinners  or 
to  promote  revivals.  On  one  occasion,  when  the 
General  Assembly  was  stirred  by  the  reports  of 
signal  revivals  from  every  quarter,  Dr.  Glendy  re- 


SYNOD  OF   PHILADELPHIA.  71 

marked  that  his  church  was  well  filled,  the  -cats 
were  all  taken  and  the  pew  rents  were  paid  punc- 
tually, and  if  that  was  not  a  revival  he  knew  of 
none  other.  Thereupon,  Dr.  Dwight,  who  was 
then  present  from  Connecticut,  rose  and  said,  "If 
the  brother  did  really  not  know  what  a  revival  of 
religion  was,  he  would  endeavor  to  enlighten  him.'1 
With  this  mild  rebuke  he  proceeded  to  describe  a 
genuine  revival. 

Dr.  Glendy  did  not  distinguish  himself  as  an 
author.  The  only  production  of  his  pen  was  an 
"Oration  on  the  Death  of  General  Washington," 
in  1800.* 

Dr.  John  McMillan  was  born  at  Fagg's  Manor, 
Chester  county,  Pa.,  November  11,  1752.  After 
being  fitted  for  college  at  Fagg's  Manor  Academy 
by  Dr.  Samuel  Blair,  he  graduated  at  Nassau  Hall, 
Princeton,  under  Dr.  Witherspoon,  in  1772.  While 
at  college  he  was  one  day  so  impressed  by  his  soli- 
tary reflections  of  truth  and  duty  that  he  became 
the  subject  of  a  sudden  conversion,  and  in  conse- 
quence, upon  graduating,  studied  theology  with  Dr. 
Robert  Smith  of  Pequea.  He  was  licensed  by  Xew 
Castle  Presbytery  in  1774,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two,  and  performed  missionary  service  in  Mary- 
land, Western  Virginia  and  Western  Pennsylvania. 
In  1775  he  organized  the  churches  of  Pigeon  Creek 
and  Chartiers,  over  which  he  was  ordained  the  fol- 
lowing year  by  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal.  He 
*  Sprague's  "Annals,"  iv.  229  :  Reminiscences. 


72  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

soon  after  married,  and  removed  his  worldly  all  to 
his  field  of  labor  on  pack-horses.  He  lived  in  a 
log  cabin,  and  was  a  stranger  to  all  the  luxuries  of 
life.  He  established  a  school,  which  became  the 
nucleus  of  Jefferson  College.  From  this  theoW- 
ical  school  issued  a  hundred  young  men,  many  of 
whom  afterward  became  distinguished  preachers. 
He  died  November  16;  1833,  aged  eighty-one. 

As  a  preacher  Dr.  McMillan  was  zealous  and 
powerful.  His  style  partook  of  the  athletic  rug- 
gedness  of  his  person.  Though  he  wrote  and  mem- 
orized his  sermons,  he  gave  little  attention  to  the 
beauties  of  rhetoric.  He  lashed  with  unsparing 
hand  whatever  he  conceived  to  be  vices  or  weak- 
nesses worthy  of  reproof.  Widespread  and  pow- 
erful revivals  occurred  under  his  ministry.  He 
witnessed  without  approval  the  falling  and  jerking 
exercises  which  deformed  the  great  revival  of  1800. 
His  own  people  he  took  care  to  indoctrinate  thor- 
oughly. When  the  Presbytery  of  Redstone  was 
attached  to  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  Dr.  McMillan's 
relations  to  this  Synod  of  course  ceased  ;  but  it  is 
pleasant  to  reflect  that  the  early  labors  of  this 
patriarch  of  Western  Pennsylvania  were  fostered 
by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.* 

William    Xevins,  D.  D.,  was  born   in   Norwich, 

Conn.,  October  13,  1797.     Although  designed  for 

commercial  life,  such  was  his  unquenchable  thirst 

for  learning  that  he  was  allowed  to  enter  Yale  Col- 

*  Smith's  "Old  Redstone/'  page  166. 


SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA.  73 

lege,  where  he  graduated  in  1816.  His  theological 
studies  were  conducted  at  Princeton  Seminary.  He 
was  settled  over  the  First  church,  Baltimore,  <  I 
ber  19,  1820.  Jt  was  the  sermon  on  his  ordination 
that  involved  l)v.  Miller  in  a  controversy  with 
Jared  Sparks,  then  a  Unitarian  pastor.  Dr.  Nev- 
ins  continued  in  this  charge  till  his  death,  IS 
ber  14,  1835,  being  just  in  the  prime  of  his  life, 
thirty-eight  vears  of  age. 

Though  in  his  early  years  thought  volatile  in 
his  manners  and  too  imaginative  in  his  pulpit  efforts, 
he  gradually  sobered  down,  and  his  "profiting  ap- 
peared to  all."  He  became  a  serious,  faithful, 
earnest,  deep-toned  gospel  preacher,  and  his  labors 
were  crowned  with  abundant  fruits.  He  was  a 
favorite  of  William  Wirt,  who  said  "he  loved  this 
//care-preaching."  His  whole  life  was  beautifully 
consistent,  and  exhibited  the  traits  of  a  lovely,  win- 
ning and  saintly  character.  He  attained  to  a  won- 
derful self-restraint.  Once,  when  assailed  in  Pres- 
bytery, having  been  provoked  to  make  a  tart  reply, 
he  acknowledged  to  the  writer  his  deep  compunction 
and  humiliation,  "for  he  had  not  yielded  to  ang<  r 
before  for  seventeen  years/3 

Dr.  Nevins  left  behind  him  a  few  published 
works  and  several  useful  tracts.  He  had  said  that 
it  was  hi-  highest  ambition  to  write  a  good  tract. 
!>•  sides  "Occasional  Sermons,"  there  was  a  posthu- 
mous volume  of  sermons  and  another  of  "Select 
Remains."     His  articles   in  the  "New   York  Ob- 


74  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

server/'  which  gained  him  great  reputation,  signed 
M.  S.,  the  final  letters  of  his  name,  were  afterward 
collected  in  two  well-known  volumes,  "  Thoughts 
on  Popery"  and  "Practical  Thoughts."* 

A  more  striking  contrast,  in  every  respect,  with 
the  character  which  has  just  been  portrayed  cannot 
be  presented  than  the  one  next  to  be  described. 

The  Rev.  James  Patterson  was  born  March  17, 
1779,  in  Bucks  county,  Pa.  He  struggled  through 
poverty  and  difficulty  to  acquire  an  education,  and 
graduated  at  Jefferson  College  in  1804,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five.  After  acting  some  time  in  Prince- 
ton as  a  tutor,  he  was  settled  as  pastor  of  Bound 
Brook  church,  N.  J.,  June,  1809.  January  11, 
1814,  he  was  installed  over  the  First  church,  North- 
ern Liberties,  on  Buttonwood  street,  Philadelphia, 
where  he  continued  till  his  death,  November  17, 
1837,  aged  fifty-nine.  Here  his  ministry  was  as- 
tonishingly successful  and  attended  with  numerous 
revivals.  In  the  twenty-three  years  of  his  pas- 
torate there  were  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
ninety  additions  to  the  communion. 

Tall  and  prophet-like,  a  John  Baptist  in  severe 
denunciation,  the  thunders  of  the  law  lost  nothing 
in  his  hands.  Rough  and  uncouth  in  his  manner, 
he  wras  suited  to  his  location.  He  resorted  to  odd 
methods  to  attract  people  to  church  by  placards 
and  advertisements.  He  was  well  read,  but  no 
logician.  Plain,  pointed,  unadorned,  quaint,  filled 
*  Sprague's  "Annals,"  iv.  629. 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  75 

with  a  burning  and  indefatigable  zeal,  Father  Pat- 
terson waa  the  preacher  of  the  masses. 

J)r.  Joseph  Williams  was  born  in  Chester  county, 

Pa.,  August  8,  17<>7,  and  was  of  Welsh  extraction. 
He  graduated  at  Dickinson  College  in  1795,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-eight,  and  studied  theology  with  Dr. 
Cooper,  before   commemorated.     His    first   charge 

was  Pax  ton  and  Deny,  October  2,  1799.  He  was 
installed  over  Big  Spring  church,  or  Newville, 
April  14,  1802,  where  lie  labored  for  twenty-seven 
years,  till  1829,  when,  in  consequence  of  the  infirmi- 
ties of  age,  he  resigned.  His  death  occurred  Au- 
gust 21,  1838,  when  seventy-one  years  old. 

Dr.  Williams,  though  quiet  and  unassuming  in 
his  general  demeanor,  was  an  acute  reasoner,  a  pro- 
found metaphysician  after  the  school  of  Edwards, 
a  well-read  theologian,  a  grave  divine,  an  evangel- 
ical and  didactic  but  earnest  preacher.  Dr.  Elliott 
considered  him  as  having  an  intellect  of  high  order 
and  fitted  to  rank  with  the  most  gifted.  He  was 
much  sought  after  as  a  theological  instructor.  He 
was  easily  embarrassed  in  debate  in  public  assem- 
blies, but  merciless  to  the  conceited  and  preten- 
tious.* When  Dr.  Devvitt  toward  the  close  of  his 
life  was  sketching  the  characteristics  of  the  fathers 
of  the  Presbytery  in  succession  and  came  to  the 
Nestor  of  the  Presbytery,  he  added,  "  And  there  was 
Dr.  Joshua  Williams,  whom  we  all  feared" 

*8pngoe'fl  "Annals,"  iv.  186;  "Churches  of  the  Valley/1 

p.  54. 


76  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Di\  John  Breckenridge  was  born  at  Cabell's  Dale, 
the  family  seat,  near  Lexington,  Ky.,  July  4,  17 
His  father  was  U.  S.  attorney-general  under  1 
ident  Jefferson,  and  died  when  John  the  son  was 
nine  years  old.  The  mother  (a  Cabell  of  Virginia) 
might  have  sat  for  the  mother  of  the  Gracchi,  the 
modern  Cornelia,  for  her  strength  of  mind  and  will 
and  the  training  of  three  such  remarkable  men  as 
John,  Robert  and  William  Breckenridge.  John 
graduated  at  Nassau  Hall  in  1818,  and  was  tutor 
for  some  time,  and  then  entered  on  the  study  of 
the  law.  But  a  change  in  his  views  led  him  to 
enter  on  the  sacred  ministry,  and  he  studied  theol- 
ogy in  Princeton  Seminary.  After  licensure  he 
acted  as  chaplain  of  the  House  in  Washington. 
September  10,  1823,  he  was  ordained  pastor  of  the 
Second  or  McChord  church  in  Lexington,  Ky. 
Here  he  contended  bravely  against  the  infidel  in- 
fluence of  President  Holley  and  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity, and  to  aid  his  efforts  started  the  Western 
Luminary.  In  1826  he  became  the  colleague  of 
Dr.  Glendy  in  the  Second  church  in  Baltimore. 

In  1831  he  was  made  secretary  of  the  General 
Assembly's  Board  of  Education,  and  immediately 
it  became  a  grand  success,  the  number  of  beneficia- 
ries increasing  from  one  hundred  to  six  hundred. 
Two  years  were  passed  as  professor  in  Princeton 
Seminary,  where  he  was  manifestly  out  of  place, 
the  round  man  in  the  square  hole,  and  from  1838 
to  1840  he  acted  as  secretary  of  the  Board  of  For- 


•;>   OF    Pill:  PJEIIA.  <  t 

i  Missions.  In  his  capacity  of  secretary  and 
genera]  agent  he  flew  up  and  down  the  land  like 
a  flash  of  lightning,  electrifying  the  community 
wherever  he  appeared.     A.t  the  time  of  his  d 

was  pastor  elect  of  the  church  in  Now  Or- 
leans, president  elect  of  Oglethorpe   University,  in 

►rgia,  and  Ins  admirers  in  Cincinnati  were  n< 
dating  with  him  through  the  writer  of  this  to  ac- 
cept  a  pro  -  ship  in  La  no  Seminary,  to  which 
proposal  he  did  not  listen  for  a  moment.  With 
enfeebled  health  lie  returned  from  Xew  Orleans  to 
the  maternal  man-inn.  where  he  breathed  his  last 
August  4,  1841,  aged  forty-four  years. 

While  Dr.  Breckenridge  was  the  model  of  chiv- 
alric  courtesy,  one  of  nature's  noblemen,  he  was  at 
the  same  time  perfectly  fearless.  He  was  not  so 
g  ntially  polemic  as  his  brother  Robert,  but  he 
was  quite  as  courageous,  whether  doing  battle 
against  the  deists  of  Lexington,  fighting  with 
wild  beasts  in  Ephcsus  for  the  Colonization  Society, 
or  debating  with  John  Hughes,  afterward  arch- 
bishop of  Xew  York. 

Dr.  Breckenridge  was  an  extempore  speaker, 
aided  only  by  a  few  scrap-  of  paper,  and  was 
largely  dependent  on  the  excitement  of  the  occa- 
siou  for   hi-   inspiration.      Hi-  -    graceful, 

his  manners  courtly.  Ids  style  classical  and   lively, 
and  hi-  enthusiasm  sometimes  rose  to  the  highest 
eloquence.     With   Ids  culture   and  im- 
mense popularity,  he  was  unaffectedly  pious.   When 


78  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

his  exhausted  frame  was  in  danger  of  giving  way 
under  his  exertions  and  he  was  counseled  to  rest, 
he  quoted  Whitefield's  words :  "  Doctor,  I  would 
rather  wear  out  than  rust  out." 

His  published  writings  were  a  sermon,  a  literary 
address,  controversy  with  Hughes,  and  memorial  of 
his  first  wife,  who  was  a  daugther  of  Dr.  Miller.* 

Rev.  Samuel  G.  Winchester  was  born  in  Harford 
county,  Maryland,  February  17, 1805.  At  an  early 
period  he  developed  a  talent  for  oratory.  He  gave 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  law;  but  becoming 
converted  under  the  preaching  of  Dr.  Nevins,  he 
turned  his  back  on  the  law  and  determined  to  be- 
come a  preacher  of  the  gospel.  His  father  was  so 
offended  that  he  disinherited  him.  After  pursuing 
the  full  course  of  study  in  the  seminary  at  Prince- 
ton, he  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  Sixth  church  of 
Philadelphia,  May  4,  1830.  After  seven  years 
there  spent,  his  failing  health  induced  him  to  ac- 
cept a  call  to  Xatchez,  Mississippi,  where  he  re- 
mained four  years.  He  died  of  congestion  of  the 
brain,  August  31,  1841,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty- 
six. 

Mr.  Winchester  was  tall  and  slender,  and  had 
an  open,  prepossessing  countenance  and  pleasant 
voice.  He  dispensed  with  notes,  and  knew  how 
to  blend  the  didactic  and  the  hortatorv.  He  was 
a  practiced  debater,  and  forced  his  antagonists  to 

*  Sprague's  "Annals,"  iv.  645;  Davidson's  "History  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Kentucky,"  p.  361. 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  79 

respect  his  youth.     His  published  writings  were  a 

few  tractate-  of  practical  character.* 

Dr.    William    Paxton    was    born    in    Lancaster 

county,  Pennsylvania,  April  1,  1760.  Later  in 
life  than  usual  he  resolved  to  obtain  a  liberal  edu- 
cation and  prepare  for  the  gospel  ministry.     Alter 

being  fitted  at  the  Strasburg  Academy,  he  was 
licensed  by  Xew  Castle  Presbytery,  April  8,  1790, 
being  thirty  years  old.  April  4,  1792,  he  was 
settled  over  Lower  Marsh  Creek  congregation, 
near  Gettysburg,  where  he  remained  for  forty- 
nine  years.  He  resigned  October  19,1841.  His 
death  occurred  April  16,  1845,  in  the  eighty-sixth 
year  of  his  age. 

Dr.  Paxton  was  six  feet  in  height  and  of  large 
frame.  Having  laid  a  good  foundation  in  the 
academy,  his  studious  habits  continued  during 
life.  His  sermons  were  carefully  prepared,  but 
delivered  extempore.  He  was  a  devoted  and 
faithful  pastor.  There  was  nothing  especially 
brilliant  or  remarkable  about  him,  though  it  is 
said  that  Thaddeus  Stevens  pronounced  him  the 
best  preacher  he  had  ever  listened  to.  But  a 
young  farmer  who  exchanged  the  plough  for  the 
musket,  who,  after  the  Revolutionary  war,  was  not 
too  proud  to  go  to  school,  and  who  maintained 
himself  in  one  pastoral  charge  for  half  a  century 
with  credit  and  reputation,  is  worthy  of  a  passing 
notice.     Hewas  so  modest  that  he  forbade  any  pro- 

gtiefa  "Annals,"  iv.  645:  Reminiscences. 


80  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

duction  of  his  pen  to  be  printed.  Dr.  Paxton  was 
the  grandfather  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Paxton, 
of  New  York.* 

As  the  Synod  increased  in  numbers,  so  the  deaths 
were  proportionally  multiplied.  The  eighth  decade 
witnessed  several  severe  losses. 

Ashbel  Green,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  was  born  at  Han- 
over, Morris  county,  X.  J.,  a  son  of  the  pastor, 
Rev.  Jacob  Green.  In  1778,  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
he  was  teacher  of  a  school,  but  dismissed  it  and 
entered  the  army.  He  was  promoted,  young  as  he 
was,  to  be  orderly  sergeant  in  the  militia.  Becom- 
ing infected  with  skepticism,  he  was  cured  of  it  by 
the  study  of  the  New  Testament.  He  entered  the 
junior  class  half  advanced,  and  graduated  at  Nas- 
sau Hall,  in  1783,  with  the  highest  honors.  After 
acting  for  a  while  as  tutor,  then  as  professor  of 
mathematics  and  natural  philosophy,  he  entered  the 
ministry.  Declining  invitations  from-  Charleston 
and  New  York,  he  was  ordained  colleague  to  Dr. 
Sproat  in  the  Second  church,  Philadelphia,  May, 
1787.  He  was  very  popular,  and  large  accessions 
were  made  to  the  church. 

From  1792  till  1800  he  served  as  chaplain  to 
Congress  along  with  Bishop  White.  In  1812  he 
was  made  president  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 
While  he  elevated  the  standard  of  learning  in  the 
college,  he  did  not  neglect  discipline  and  religious 
instruction.  In  1815  there  was  a  revival  of  relig- 
*  Sprague's  "Annals,"  iii.  554. 


SYNOD    OF    PHILADELPHIA.  81 

ion,  and  thirty  students  were  its  subjects,  among 
them  such  men  of  mark  as  John  Breckenridge, 
Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  Bishop  Mcllvaine  and  Bishop 

Johns.  In  IS'2'2  he  resigned  and  returned  to  Phil- 
adelphia, where  he  applied   himself  to  editing  the 

Christian  Advocate  for  twelve  year.-. 

In  18-4  Dr.  Green  was  elected  moderator  of  the 
General  Assembly.  lie  was  a  member  of  the  As- 
sembly in  the  years  suoc  ssively  1837,  1838  and 
1839,  and  took  a  decided  stand  in  favor  of  the  Old 
School  party.  ''The  trumpet  gave  no  uncertain 
sound."  In  1846  the  Old  School  Assembly  met  in 
Philadelphia,  and  the  venerable  man  was  led  in. 
The  whole  Assemblv  rose  to  do  him  honor,  and  the 
moderator,  Dr.  Hodge,  welcomed  him,  to  which 
Dr.  Green  responded.  He  was  conducted  to  a  chair 
placed  for  him  under  the  pulpit,  but  was  able  to 
remain  only  a  short  time.  May  19,  1848,  he  paid 
the  debt  of  nature,  in  the  eighty-sixth  year  of  his 
age.     He  was  found  dead  in  the  posture  of  prayer. 

Dr.  Green's  long  experience  and  active  habits 
gave  him  great  weight  in  the  councils  of  the  Church. 
Dr.  Van  Rensselaer  styled  him  "the  connecting 
link  between  old  times  and  new.7'*  Scarce  an  im- 
tant  action  was  taken  in  which  he  had  not  a 
share.  •  H<  identified  with  the  history  of  the 

I  irch  from  the  beginning.  lie  could  appropri- 
ately apply  to  himself  the  words.  k*  quorum  pars 
magna  fui"      Some  objected  that  he  was  dictatorial, 

*  "Presbyterian  Magazine,"  i.  246. 
0 


82  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

or  at  least  magisterial.  Dr.  Carnahan  thought  him 
"  fitted  to  adorn  any  station/'  Dr.  Janeway  re- 
garded him  as  "  the  first  preacher  in  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church." 

His  discourses  were  written,  but  not  read.  He 
was  also  in  the  habit  of  writing  his  prayers,  to 
which  they  owed  their  richness  and  variety.  To 
weighty  matter  he  added  an  impressive  manner,  a 
transparent  style,  beautiful  diction  and  a  good  de- 
livery. 

"  Though  deep,  yet  clear  ;  though  gentle,  yet  not  dull ; 
Strong  without  rage,  without  overflowing,  full." 

His  printed  works,  comprising  an  autobiography 
and  "  Lectures  on  the  Shorter  Catechism,"  fill  sev- 
eral volumes.* 

Dr.  Henry  H.  Wilson  was  born  near  Gettysburg, 
August  7,  1780.  He  graduated  at  Dickinson  Col- 
lege in  1798,  and  studied  theology  with  Dr.  Nisbet. 
His  first  charge  was  a  congregation  in  Bellefonte  in 
1802,  of  which  he  was  the  founder.  He  was  also 
principal  of  the  academy  in  the  same  place.  In 
1806  he  was  made  professor  of  languages  in  Dick- 
inson College,  acting  part  of  the  time  as  assistant 
to  the  pastor,  Dr.  Davidson.  In  1813  he  was  in- 
stalled over  Silver  Spring  church,  and  in  1823 
over  the  church  of  Shippensburg.  In  both  charges 
he  was  diligent  and  successful.  He  preached  four 
times    on   the    Sabbath,  besides    opening  the  Sab- 

*  Sprague's  "  Annals,"  iii.  479. 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  83 

bath-school.  He  permitted  no  weather  to  inter! 
with  his  doty.  Prom  1838  till  1842  he  was  gen- 
eral agent  of  the  Board  of  Publication.  In  1842 
he  was  installed  over  Neshaminy  church,  but,  his 
health  giving  way,  resigned  in  1848.  He  died  the 
year  after,  March  '22,  1849,  at  the  reside  '  his 

mhi.  the  present   respected  secretary  of  the  Board 
of  Church  Erection. 

Dr.  Wilson  was  stated  clerk  of  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia  (Old  School)  for  twenty-three  year-, 
up  to  the  date  of  his  decease,  and  the  minutc- 
wcre  beautifully  kept.  He  was  tall  and  athletic, 
and  of  dignified  presence.  He  was  an  able  and 
forcible  preacher,  solely  intent  on  the  good  of  his 
hearers.  Pie  was  of  a  frank  and  fearless  disposi- 
tion, and  carried  his  abhorrence  of  duplicity  to  the 
verge  of  severity  and  obstinacy.* 

Dr.  Robert  Cathcart  was  born  November,  17-39, 
near  Coleraine,  Ireland.  He  was  educated  in 
the  College  of  Glasgow,  and  after  being  lice  i 
preached  several  years  without  a  fixed  charge,  till 
1790,  when  lie  emigrated  to  the  United  States. 
Declining  other  overtures,  he  was  settled  October, 
1  793,  over  the  united  churches  of  York  and  Hope- 
well. Pa.,  fifteen  miles  apart,  which  he  served  on 
alternate  Sundays.  When  the  infirmities  of  age 
told  on  him,  he  relinquished  the  Hopewell  church, 
commonly  known  as  the  York  Barren-.  In  1 
he  was  forced  to  resign  the  York  church  also,  after 
*Spragnefc  "Annals,"  iv.  300. 


84  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

a  pastoral  connection  of  forty-six  years.  He  ex- 
pired suddenly,  October  19,  1849,  at  the  advanced 
age  of  ninety  years. 

Dr.  Cathcart  was  an  instructive,  doctrinal  preach- 
er, fond  of  expository  preaching  as  well  as  of  lec- 
turing on  the  catechism.  After  preaching  Sunday 
morning  in  the  Barrens,  he  has  been  known  to  ride 
home  and  deliver  in  York  one  of  his  interesting  lec- 
tures on  the  Shorter  Catechism.  He  paid  great 
attention  to  examining  his  flock  in  the  Barrens 
(both  young  and  old)  on  the  catechism.  He  was 
regarded  as  a  well-read  theologian,  and  kept  abreast 
with  the  knowledge  of  the  times.  He  was  espe- 
cially remarkable  for  his  clock-work  punctuality, 
whether  as  trustee  of  Dickinson  College,  as  mem- 
ber of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  or  in  attendance 
on  the  General  Assembly.  He  never  missed  a 
meeting;  of  the  Svnod  but  once,  and  that  was  occa- 
sioned  by  sickness.  For  twenty  years  he  served  as 
one  of  the  clerks  of  the  Assembly.  He  was  so 
constant  in  his  attendance,  whether  a  commissioner 
or  not,  that  Dr.  Green  once  called  him  the  stand- 
ing representative  of  his  Presbytery. 

Although  Dr.  Cathcart  was  consulted  by  other 
authors,  he  never  gave  anything  to  the  press  but 
one  sermon,  which  was  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
his  friend  Dr.  Davidson,  of  Carlisle.* 

Ih\  Cornelius  0.  Cuyler  was  born  at  Albany,  of 
an  honored  Dutch  ancestry,  February  15,  178S.  He 
*  Sprague's  "Annals,"  iii.  559. 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  85 

graduated  at  Union  College  in  1806,  and  studied 
theology  under  Drs.  Livingston  and  Bassett.  lie 
was  ordained  pastor  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  church 
in  Ponghkeepsie  January  2,  1809.  Numerous  re- 
vivals occurred  under  his  ministry,  lie  declined 
iral  flattering  invitations;  but  in  obedience  to 
the  apparent  call  of  Providence,  he  accepted  a  call 
to  the  Second  Presbyterian  church,  Philadelphia, 
and  was  installed  January  14,  1834.  Here  he  con- 
tinued till  his  death,  which  occurred  August  31, 
1850,  when  he  was  in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his 
age.  From  causes  inscrutable  his  ministry  was  not 
so  signally  fruitful  here  as  in  his  precedent  cha 
It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  a  like  diminution  of 
success  followed  the  transference  of  Gilbert  Ten- 
nent,  Dr.  John  McDowell  and  Dr.  Joseph  H. 
Jon-  s. 

Dr.  Cuyler  was  of  noble  appearance,  being  six 
feet  two  inches  in  height.  He  had  a  remarkably 
well-balanced  mind.  He  was  dignified,  yet  affable, 
an  eleg  mt  scholar  and  a  perfect  gentleman.  His 
sermons  were  carefully  written,  his  style  was  lucid 
and  perspicuous,  his  delivery  sober  and  free  from 
extravagances.  His  deathbed  was  truly  edifying:. 
His  published  writings  consisted  of  a  number  of 
occasional  sermons  and  several  tracts, 

Dr.  Archibald  Alexander  seems  to  be  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Church  at  large,  yet  it  is  well  to  remem- 

*  "  Presbyterian  Magazine/'  v.  219;  Spragne's  "Annals," 
iv.  4 


86  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

ber  here  that  before  his  going  to  Princeton  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia. 

He  was  born  near  Lexington,  Va.,  April  17, 
1772.  His  classical  and  theological  studies  were 
conducted  under  Rev,  Mr.  Graham,  of  Liberty 
Hall,  afterward  Washington  College.  He  was 
licensed  at  the  early  age  of  nineteen;  and  on  ex- 
pressing his  diffidence,  Presbytery  assigned  him  for 
a  text,  "  Say  not  I  am  a  child."  Jer.  i.  7.  After 
spending  a  year  or  more  in  missionary  labor,  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  of  the  Synod,  he  was  ordained 
pastor  of  Briery  church  November  7,  1794.  In 
179G  he  was  chosen  president  of  Hampden-Sidney 
College  at  the  age  of  twenty-four.  May  20,  1807, 
he  was  installed  over  Pine  Street  church,  Philadel- 
phia. In  1807,  being  thirty-five,  he  was  elected 
moderator  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  his 
sermon  made  the  suggestion  of  a  theological  semi- 
nary. In  1812  he  was  appointed  professor  in  the 
theological  seminary  just  established  at  Princeton. 
Here  he  remained  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  mould- 
ing during  forty  years  the  studies  and  characters 
of  two  generations  of  ministers.  His  name  was 
widely  known  in  other  lands  as  well  as  our  own. 
When  the  late  Dr.  Thomas  Smythe,  of  Charleston, 
was  a  student  in  Highbury,  England,  and  thought 
of  coming  to  America,  he  asked  his  professors  to 
what  seminary  he  should  direct  his  steps.  They 
told  him  by  all  means  to  go  where  Drs.  Alex- 
ander and  Miller  were. 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA,  87 

Dr.  Alexander  died  October  22,  1851,  in  the 
eightieth  year  of  his  age;  but  like  Moses,  his  eve 

was  not  dim  nor  the  natural  force  of  his  mental 
abilities  abated.* 

As  an  experimental  preacher  Dr.  Alexander  was 
unrivaled  and  inimitable,  and  I  do  not  know  but 
that  I  might  add,  indescribable.  His  preaching 
was  characterized  by  great  vivacity  as  well  as  sub- 
tle knowledge  of  human  nature.  Wisdom  was  his 
most  conspicuous  attribute.  His  knowledge  of 
ministers  and  churches  was  encyclopaedic.  His 
general  manner  was  very  quiet  and  unassuming, 
but  he  could  be  exceedingly  tart  and  cutting  to  the 
conceited  and  forward.  An  impartial  biographer 
must  admit  the  fact  that  he  was  very  sensitive  to 
the  influence  of  the  east  wind. 

Dr.  Alexander's  published  writings  were  too 
voluminous  here  to  recite.  We  may  only  mention 
his  "History  of  the  Colonization  Society,"  "Evi- 
dences of  the  Christian  Religion,"  "  Thoughts  on 
Religion,"  "Counsels  to  the  Aged,"  etc.  Some 
might  think  it  of  additional  interest  to  mention 
that  lie  married  the  daughter  of  Dr.  James  Wad- 
del  1,  Wilt's  celebrated  blind  preacher,  and  that  he 
was  the  father  of  those  eminent  men,  Dr.  James  W. 

*  At  the  time  of  hi*  death  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey  were  in 
on  in  Princeton,  and  attended  his  funeral  in  a  body,  Bay- 
ing, "Ala*,  my  father]  the  chariots' of  Israel  and  the  horse- 
nit  n  thereof!"     The  coffin  waa  borne  to  the  grave  by  his  former 
pupils. 


88  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Alexander,  the  prince  of  preachers,  and  Dr.  J.  Ad- 
dison Alexander,  the  prince  of  exegetes.* 

Dr.  Daniel  L.  Carroll  was  born  in  Fayette 
county,  Pa.,  May  10,  1797.  After  surmounting 
great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  getting  an  education, 
he  graduated  at  Jefferson  College  in  1823,  being 
twenty-six  vears  old.  He  then  took  the  three 
years'  course  in  Princeton  Seminary,  and  six 
months  additional.  He  was  settled  over  a  Con- 
gregational church  in  Litchfield,  Conn.,  October, 
1827.  March  4,  1829,  he  was  installed  over  the 
First  Presbyterian  church  in  Brooklyn,  L.  I.,  but 
in  1835  resigned  on  account  of  throat-ail,  and  ac- 
cepted the  presidency  of  Hampden-Sidney  College, 
Va.  In  1838,  on  account  of  theological  difficulties, 
he  resigned,  and  accepted  a  call  to  the  First  church 
of  the  Northern  Liberties,  Philadelphia,  where  he 
remained  till  1844,  when  ill  health  compelled  him  to 
relinquish  the  charge.  After  a  brief  tour  of  service 
for  the  Colonization  Society,  he  died  in  Philadelphia 
November  23,  1851,  in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his 
age.  As  a  preacher  Dr.  Carroll  was  very  popular, 
and  preached  to  crowded  houses.  He  had  a  refined 
taste,  lively  imagination  and  nervous  organization. 
He  excelled  on  the  platform.  He  published  two 
volumes  of  sermons,  besides  occasional  discourses,  t 

David  McOonaughy,  D.  I).,  LL.  D.,  was  born  m 

*Sprague'p    "  Annals,"  *  iii.    612;    Wilson's    "  Presb.    Hist. 
Aim.,"  v.  51. 

f  Spragne's  "  Annals,"  iv.  697. 


SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA.  89 

Adams  county,  Pa.,  September  29,  1775.  He  was 
educated  under  Mr.  Dobbins,  of  Gettysburg,  and 
graduated  in  Dickinson  College  September,  1795, 
in  the  same  class  with  Chief-Justice  Taney,  Judge 

Kennedy  and  Dr.  Joshua  William-.  He  studied 
theology  with  the  Rev.  Nathan  Grier,  of  Brandy- 
wine,  and  was  ordained  pastor  of  Upper  Marsh 
( 'reek  now  Gettysburg)  and  Upper  Conewago  Oc- 
tober 8,  1800.  In  1832  he  was  inaugurated  pres- 
ident of  Washington  College.  After  eighteen  years 
of  service  he  resigned  in  1849.  He  died  Jan- 
uary 2;>,  1852,  in  the  seventy-seventh  year  of  his 

Dr.  McConaughy  was  a  solid  and  thoughtful 
preacher,  but  not  attractive  in  delivery.  He  ex- 
celled in  pastoral  capacity,  and  was  held  in  univer- 
sal esteem  as  a  good  man.  He  spoke  but  little  in 
the  judicatories  of  the  Church.  As  a  president  he 
exhibited  accurate  scholarship,  dignified  deport- 
ment and  paternal  care  of  his  pupils.  He  published 
several   occasional   discourses  and  two  volumes  of 

red  biography.* 

Rev.  Richard  Webster  was  born  in  Albany,  J  ily 
14,  1811.  He  early  became  a  subject  of  converfc- 
ing  grace.  His  passion  for  b< ><>k-  was  proba  >ly 
devel<  I  <>r  at  least  nourished  by  thecircumfeta  ice 
of  his  father  being  a  bookseller.  He  graduated 
at  Union  Collei;  in  1829,  ai  i  at  Princeton  Theo- 
logical   Seminary    in    1834.      He    was    anxious    to 

a  •'•  Auii:i!V  iv.  199. 


00  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

go  on  a  foreign  mission  to  India,  but  his  deafness 
proved  an  insurmountable  obstacle.  He  then  de- 
termined to  devote  himself  to  missionary  labors  at 
home.  He  began  his  career  at  South  Easton,  but 
shortly  after  organized  a  church  at  Mauch  Chunk, 
November  1,  1835,  over  which  he  was  settled  as 
pastor.  His  labors  were  not  confined  to  this  spot, 
but  extended  over  the  coal  region  in  the  counties 
of  Lehigh,  Northampton,  Columbia,  etc.  He  aided 
in  founding  a  dozen  churches,  and  was  the  father 
of  Luzerne  Presbytery.  He  died  June  19,  1856, 
in  the  forty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

When  it  was  announced  to  him  that  he  was 
dying,  he  expressed  his  doubts,  because  he  felt 
naturally,  and  in  the  full  possession  of  all  his 
faculties.  "  If  it  be  death,  it  is  such  a  death  as  I 
have  never  dreamed  of.  I  never  dreamed  of  such 
a  heaven.  It  is  most  glorious ;  but,  wThat  is  won- 
derful, it  is  not  strange.  It  is  only  a  brighter 
home."  Such  was  the  euthanasia  of  this  excellent 
man,  expiring  in  the  prime  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Webster  had  a  tenacious  memory,  a  fondness 
for  antiquarian  lore  and  a  familiarity  with  the  de- 
tails of  Church  history  that  was  astonishing.  His 
deafness  and  nearsightedness  drove  him  to  solitary 
studies,  particularly  in  the  line  of  historical  re- 
search. He  had  poetical  gifts,  but  published 
nothing.  He  was  genial  and  social,  given  to 
sportive  and  satirical  sallies,  full  of  anecdote  and 
sparkling  wit;  yet,  withal,  a   man  of  prayer,  sub- 


SYNOD    OF    PHILADELPHIA.  91 

mining  with  patience  to  his  lot,  and  exemplary  As 
a  pastor,  attentive  and  tender  in  affliction.  He 
was  a  frequent  correspondent  for  the  religions 
periodicals,  under  the  signature  of  K.  H.  He 
prepared  a  "  Digest  of  the  Acts  of  the  General 
Assembly/'  and  materials  for  a  "  History  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,"  published  as  a  posthumous 
work  by  the  Presbyterian  Historical  Society.* 

Dr.  Jacob  J.  Janeway  was  born  in  New  York, 
November  20,  1774.  He  graduated  at  Columbia 
College  in  1794,  and  studied  theology  with  the 
celebrated  Dutch  divine  Dr.  Livingston.  He  was 
ordained  colleague  of  Dr.  Green  in  the  Second 
Presbyterian  church,  Philadelphia,  in  1799.  For 
thirteen  years  they  worked  together  with  unbroken 
harmony.  When  Dr.  Green  was  made  president 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  Dr.  Skinner  Avas 
chosen  colleague  to  Dr.  Janeway;  but  the  harmo- 
ny was  not  so  uninterrupted.  The  junior  pastor 
warmly  espoused  the  New  School  views,  the  senior 
pastor  maintained  the  Old.  In  1816  Dr.  Skinner, 
with  fifty  of  the  members,  parted  to  build  up  a  new 
enterprise,  the  Arch  Street  church.  In  1818  Dr. 
Janeway  was  elected  moderator  of  the  General  As- 
sembly. In  1828  he  accepted  a  professorship  in 
the  new  theological  seminary  at  Allegheny,  Pa.,  but 
relinquished  it  in  a  year  in  consequence  of  prop- 
erty difficulties.     In  1830  he  was  installed  over  the 

'Biographical  Sketch"  1-y   Dr.  Van  Rensselaer,  prefixed 
•     U  •  Historr." 


92  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCFTES. 

First  Dutch  Reformed  church  in  New  Brunswick, 

N.  J.,  which  position  he  held  only  two  years  on  ac- 
count of  ill  health.  In  1833  he  was  appointed  vice- 
president  of  Rutgers  College.  This  post  he  resigned 
on  reuniting  with  the  Presbyterian  Church.  From 
this  time  forward  he  took  no  heavier  burdens  on 
himself  than  serving  in  the  Boards  of  the  Church 
and  of  Princeton  Seminary,  and  also  as  trustee  of 
Nassau  Hall.  In  the  discharge  of  these  duties  he 
was  unsurpassed  for  assiduity  and  punctuality.  His 
death  occurred  June  27,  1858,  in  the  eighty-fourth 
year  of  his  age. 

As  a  preacher  Dr.  Janeway  was  didactic  and  me- 
thodical, avoiding  the  flowery  paths  of  rhetoric. 
On  all  public  occasions  he  acquitted  himself  credit- 
ably. His  figure  was  portly  and  his  countenance 
benevolent.  He  was  singularly  self-poised  and 
unimpassioned.  When  the  tornado  of  1837  blew 
his  chimneys  down  and  twisted  his  old  elms,  lie 
merely  said  to  the  assembled  crowd,  in  his  usual 
imperturbable  manner,  "  This  has  been  a  consid  ar- 
able blow.''* 

Dr.  Janeway  published  "  Letters  on  the  Atone- 
ment," u  Communicants'  Manual,"  etc.* 

Rev.  William  McOalla  was  born  in  Jessamine 
county,  Kentucky,  November  25,  1788.  He  was 
"  a  man  of  war  from  his  youth."  He  seemed  to 
have  adopted  Psalm  cxliv.  1  for  his  motto: 
u  Blessed  be  the  Lord  which  teacheth  my  hands 
*  "Presbyterian  Magazine,"  iii.  237. 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  93 

to  war,  and  my  fingers  to  fight."  At  his  examin- 
ation  before  the  Presbytery  of  West  Lexington 
he  had  a  political  altercation  with  the  venerable 
l>r.  Blythe.  In  1815  he  was  appointed  an  army 
chaplain  by  General  Jackson.  In  1819  he 
settled  as  pastor  of  the  church  in  Augusta,  Ken- 
tucky. In  1823  he  was  settled  over  the  Eighth 
or  Scots3  church,  Philadelphia,  where  his  ministry 
was  very  successful.  In  1835  he  felt  impelled  to 
travel  in  Texas,  and  again  served  as  an  army  chap- 
lain, dressing  in  clerical  costume  and  living  in  a 
tent.  In  1837  he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and 
labored  successively  in  the  Fourth,  Tabernacle 
and  Union  churches.  In  1854  he  engaged  in 
missionary  labor  in  St.  Louis  anions;  the  boatmen, 
and  afterward  among  the  slaves  in  the  South.  He 
died  in  Louisiana,  of  congestive  chills,  October  12, 

\  in  the  seventy-first  year  of  his  age. 
Mr.  McCalla  was  of  a  tall  and  commanding  per- 
son, with  black  hair  and  eyes  and  a  clarion  voice. 
He  was  more  or  less  familiarly  acquainted  with  the 
Hebrew,  Syriac,  Greek.  Latin,  French,  Spanish  and 

nan   languag  s.     He    preached   without   notes, 
and  had  a  wonderful  command  of  language.     But 
it  was  in  debate  that  he  excelled.     In  polemics  I 
was  a  master.     This  he  abundantly  exemplified  in 
his  d  9  with  Mr.  Vaughn  and  Alexander  Camp- 

bell, Baptists,  in  Kentucky;  with  William  Lane, 
an  Arian  Baptist,  in  Mllford;  with  John  Hughes, 
afterward   archbishop,  the   Roman  Catholic;  with 


94  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Abner  Kneeland,  the  atheist;  and  with  Joseph  Bar- 
ker, the  infidel,  which  last  now  preaches  the  faith 
he  once  labored  to  destroy.  In  the  long  contro- 
versy between  the  Old  and  New  Schools  he  kept 
up  his  character  for  pugnacity,  ability  and  power 
of  sarcasm.  He  carried  his  boasts  of  his  Kentucky 
birth  to  a  foible.  He  had  an  uncommon  power  of 
self-control,  and  could  say  the  most  diverting  or 
the  most  cutting  things  without  changing  a  muscle. 
In  the  fiercest  contests  he  remained  perfectly  cool. 
Dr.  Miller  remarked  of  him  that  he  was  smooth  as 
oil,  but  it  was  the  oil  of  vitriol. 

Mr.  McCalla's  only  publications  were  "A  Cor- 
rect Narrative "  of  the  affairs  connected  with  the 
trial  of  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  a  small  collection 
of  psalms  and  hymns  in  French,  and  "  Travels  in 
Texas."  * 

Although  Mr.  McCalla  exhibited  such  decided 
polemical  tendencies  in  public,  he  was  social  and 
agreeable  in  private.  Unbending  as  he  was,  in  his 
principles  as  in  his  person,  no  one  could  deny  his 
honesty  or  doubt  his  perfect  conscientiousness.  In 
his  early  life  he  was  disposed  to  be  rigidly  ascetic, 
insisting  that  Christian  people  should  avoid  extrav- 
agance, and  setting  the  example  by  selling  his  own 
furniture  for  what  was  plainer  and  cheaper. 

Dr.  William  Neill  was  born  in  AVestern  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1778,  amid  the  hardships  of  frontier  life, 

*  "Life  of  Dr.  George  Junkin,"  Appendix,  p.  586;  "Eemi- 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  95 

both  his  parent-  being  mas-acred  by  the  Indians. 
lie  graduated  at  Nassau  Hall  in  1803.  He  was 
ordained  over  the  church  in  Cooperstown  in  1805. 
In  1809  he  was  called  to  the  First  church  of  Al- 
bany, in  1816  to  the  Sixth  church  of  Philadel- 
phia, the  seceding  portion  from  Dr.  Ely's  church. 
In  1815  he  was  chosen  moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly.  In  1824  he  was  made  president  of 
Dickinson  College.  That  position  did  not  prove  a 
bed  of  roses,  and  he  became  in  1829  secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Education.  In  1831  he  took  charge  of 
the  Germantown  church,  and  raised  it  to  a  flourish- 
ing condition.  In  1842  he  retired  from  all  active 
labors.  In  1860  he  departed  this  life,  aged  eighty- 
two  years. 

Dr.  Xeill  was  tall  and  dignified.  As  a  clergy- 
man  he  was  highly  esteemed.  His  style  was  per- 
spicuous, and  even  elegant.  Dr.  D.  X.  Junkin 
styled  him  u  the  venerable  and  lovely  Dr.  William 
Neill.*  As  a  college  functionary  he  was  conscien- 
tious and  faithful,  and  the  students  respected  his 
evident  piety,  while  they  smiled  at  his  grave  for- 
mality. Besides  occasional  discourses,  he  pub- 
lished an  exposition  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians.f 

Dr.  Francis  Herr on  was  born  near  Shippensburg, 
Pa.,  June  28,1774.  He  graduated  at  Dickinson  (  al- 
lege under  Dr.  Nisbet  in  1794,  and  studied  theology 

Life  of  Dr.  George  Junkin,"  p.  148. 
f  Gillett's  history,"  i.  483. 


96  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

with  Dr.  Cooper.  He  was  licensed  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  Carlisle,  October  4,  1797.  For  three  years 
he  was  occupied  in  missionary  labor  in  the  West 
as  far  as  Chillicothe,  traveling  much  of  the  time 
through  an  unbroken  wilderness.  April  9,  1800, 
he  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  Rocky 
Spring  church  by  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle.  His 
previous  training  and  experience  in  revivals  made 
his  ministry  here  for  ten  years  a  blessing.  But  the 
people  of  Pittsburg  gave  him  such  a  pressing  invi- 
tation to  labor  among  them  that  he  felt  it  his  duty 
to  accept  their  call,  and  accordingly  was  installed 
over  the  First  church  of  Pittsburg  by  Redstone 
Presbytery  hi  June,  1811.  His  warm  and  spiritual 
style  of  preaching  soon  stirred  up  opposition  on  the 
part  of  worldlings,  but  no  threats  or  hostility  could 
turn  the  faithful  man  of  God  from  his  duty.  When 
the  church  edifice  had  to  be  sold  by  the  sheriff  for 
debt,  he  stepped  forward  and  bought  it  in  his  own 
name.  He  then  sold  part  of  the  ground  for  more 
than  the  debt,  and  relieved  the  church  from  its  lia- 
bilities. The  church  now  entered  on  a  new  era  of 
prosperity,  both  financial  and  spiritual,  and  revival 
on  revival  followed.  Among  other  enterprises  of 
a  useful  character,  Dr.  Herron's  influence  secured 
the  location  of  the  Western  Theological  Seminary 
at  Alleghany  City.  He  was  elected  moderator  of 
the  General  Assembly  in  1827.  His  years  and  ex- 
ertions at  length  began  to  tell  on  him;  and  in  1850, 
when  he  was  in  his  seventy-sixth  year,  his  people 


SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA.  97 

reluctantly  accepted  his  resignation.  The  rest  of 
bifi  life  was  spent  in  serenity  and  peace  and  ripen- 
ing for  heaven.  His  deatli  was  a  euthanasia.  He 
died  December  6,  1860,  in  the  eighty-sixth  year  of 
his  age. 

It  is  difficult  to  do  justice  to  such  a  life  and  cha- 
racter as  Dr.  Herron's.  It  consisted  so  much  in 
activity  and  influence,  and  so  little  in  merely  lite- 
rary labor,  that  we  are  necessitated  to  judge  more 
by  its  results  than  by  anything  else.  But  judging 
in  this  way,  we  cannot  but  form  the  most  exalted 
opinion  of  this  aged  patriarch.  As  Dr.  Paxton 
said  of  him,  "he  was  a  man  of  nerve,  will  and 
power,  moulding  rather  than  being  moulded,  breast- 
ing the  current  rather  than  floating  upon  its  sur- 
face." Nature  did  much  for  him  by  giving  him 
an  unusually  elegant  and  imposing  form.  Grace 
did  more  by  filling  his  soul  with  zeal  for  God  and 
love  for  the  souls  of  men.* 

Mr.  Nicholas  Murray  was  born  in  Armagh  county, 
Ireland,  December  25,  1802.  At  the  age  of  six- 
teen he  resolved  to  come  to  the  Western  world  to 
seek  his  fortune,  and  found  a  situation  in  the  pub- 
lishing establishment  of  the  well-known  Harper 
Brothers,  New  York.  He  had  been  brought  up  a 
Roman  Catholic;  but  having  his  attention  arrested 
by  the  preaching  of  Dr.  John  M.  Mason,  he  began 
to  examine  for  himself,  and  the  result  was  his  con- 
version to  Protestantism.     He  was  now  persuaded 

*  Wilson's  "  Historical  Almanac,"  iv.  95. 
7 


98  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

to  study  for  the  ministry,  and  graduated  at  Wil- 
liams College,  Massachusetts,  under  Dr.  Griffin. 
After  spending  some  time  in  the  service  of  the 
American  Tract  Society,  he  graduated  at  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary  in  1829,  when  he  was  licensed 
by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  He  was  or- 
dained and  installed  pastor  of  the  Wilkesbarre 
church,  November,  1829,  by  the  Presbytery  of  Sus- 
quehanna. July  23,  1833,  he  was  installed  pastor 
of  the  First  church,  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.,  where 
"  his  profiting  appeared  to  all,"  and  where  in  the 
midst  of  his  usefulness  he  was  smitten  with  rheu- 
matism of  the  heart,  and  expired,  after  a  brief  ill- 
ness, February  11,  1861. 

Dr.  Murray's  merits  were  familiar  to  the  Church 
at  large.  He  was  chosen  moderator  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  1849.  Besides  numerous  calls  to 
churches,  he  was  appointed  to  two  theological  pro- 
fessorships, the  secretaryship  of  the  Board  of  For- 
eign Missions  and  general  agency  of  the  American 
Tract  Society  for  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

Dr.  Murray  had  a  strong,  clear,  practical  mind, 
and  his  style  of  preaching  was  more  instructive 
than  imaginative.  He  was  endowed  with  a  native, 
racy,  ready  wit,  savoring  of  his  mother-country, 
which  sometimes  in  controversy  flashed  up  in  scath- 
ing irony  and  sarcasm. 

His  published  works  are  the  celebrated  "Kirwan 
Letters  on  Popery ,"  in  two' series,  originally  pub- 
lished in  the  New  York  "Observer;"  "Travels  in 


SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA.  99 

Europe;"  "  Home;"  "Driftwood;"  "Thoughts 
Preaching  and   Preachers ;"  and  a  posthumous  set 
of  discourses  on  "Things  Unseen  and  Eternal."* 

Dr.  Ezra  Styles  Ely  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Con- 
necticut, June  13,  L786.  He  made  a  profession  of 
religion  at  the  age  of  twelve.  He  graduated  at 
Yale  College  in  1803?  and  his  theological  stud- 
were  conducted  under  the  direction  of  his 
fither,  Rev.  Zebulon  Ely.  lie  was  licensed  in 
1804,  and  ordained  by  Westchester  Presbytery  pas- 
tor of  Colchester  (Congregational)  church,  Conn., 
in  1806.  He  was  taken  from  this  charge  to  act  as 
chaplain  to  the  New  York  City  Hospital.  In  1813 
lie  was  installed  pastor  of  Pine  Street  church,  Phil- 
adelphia, as  successor  of  Dr.  Alexander,  removed  to 
Princeton,  but  his  strong  anti-Hopkinsian  tenets 
led  to  the  division  of  the  church.  His  activity  in 
all  schemes  of  charity  and  benevolence  was  bound- 
[(  3S,  Jefferson  Medical  College  owes  its  existence 
in  a  great  measure  to  him  as  one  of  its  trustees,  for 
in  its  pecuniary  straits  he  bought  the  lot  and  erected 
the  building  where  the  institution  now  stand-. 
From  1825  until  1836  he  was  stated  clerk  of  the 
General  Assembly:  and  if  ever  any  one  "  magnified 
his  office,"  it  was  Dr.  Ely.  He  seemed  to  consider 
himself  as  the  embodiment  of  the  Assembly  and 
the  centre  of  affairs,  especially  during  the  recess. 
In  1828  be  was  chosen  moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly. 

Wilson'*  '"  Historical  Almanac,''  iv.  105. 


100  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Ill  1834  his  enthusiasm  led  him  to  embark  as  an 
active  patron  of  Marion  College,  in  Missouri.  It 
was  started  as  a  manual  labor  college,  and  the 
crops  of  hay  and  onions  were  expected  to  defray 
all  expenses.  A  large  number  of  students  was  col- 
lected, but  finally  the  scheme  proved  an  utter  fail- 
ure. Dr.  Ely  sunk  his  whole  fortune  in  it,  and 
involved  others.  For  a  time  his  character  for  in- 
tegrity suffered,  but  at  length  it  was  admitted  to 
have  been  no  worse  than  a  financial  blunder.  In 
1844  Dr.  Ely  took  charge  of  the  church  of  the 
Northern  Liberties,  Philadelphia.  He  retained 
this  post  till  struck  down  by  paralysis,  August, 
1851.  He  was  afflicted  by  that  form  of  paralysis 
known  as  aphasia,  or  inability  to  utter  the  right 
words.  He  died,  a  wreck  in  mind  and  body,  June 
18,  1861. 

Dr.  Ely  was  of  a  mercurial  temperament,  which 
was  never  completely  overcome  in  or  out  of  the  pul- 
pit. But  his  oddities  only  provoked  a  smile,  and 
never  aroused  indignation.  No  one  went  to  sleep 
under  his  preaching.  It  has  been  estimated  that  he 
was  the  means  of  the  conversion  of  two  thousand 
two  hundred  persons.  He  was  a  generous  and 
open-handed  man.  There  is  good  reason  for  be- 
lieving that  his  benefactions  during  his  lifetime 
amounted  to  nearly  $50,000. 

His  published  works  were,  "  Visits  of  Mercy," 
"The  Contrast"  (anti-Hopkinsian,  answered  by 
Whelpley's  "Triangle"),  "Collateral  Bible,"  me- 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  101 

morial  of  his  father,  Rev.  Zebulon  Ely,  and  tlie 
religious  weekly,  "  The  Philadelphian."*  Dr.  Ely 
wrote  also  a  "  History  of  the  Churches  of  Phila- 
delphia," which  is  in  manuscript  and  unpublished. 

Dr.  Benjamin  J.  Wallace  was  horn  in  Erie, 
Pennsylvania,  June  10,  1810.  He  made  a  pro- 
ion  of  religion  in  his  twelfth  year.  In  1827, 
after  trying  law  and  clerkship,  he  entered  West 
Point  as  a  military  cadet,  hut  believing  himself 
called  to  a  higher  service,  he  left  West  Point,  and 
studied  theology  in  Princeton  Seminary.  Here 
he  felt  himself  at  home.  In  1834  he  was  settled 
in  Russellville,  Kentucky.  In  1837  he  was  in- 
stalled over  the  church  in  York,  Pennsylvania. 
Here  he  was  soon  involved  in  a  lawsuit  for  the 
possession  of  the  church  property  between  the 
New  and  Old  School  parties,  which  was  ended  in 
favor  of  the  former  by  the  famous  decision  of 
Chief- Justice  Gibson.  In  1846  he  was  elected 
professor  of  languages  in  Newark  College,  Dela- 
ware. In  1802  he  was  selected  as  editor  of  the 
"Presbyterian  Quarterly  Review."  He  died,  a 
great  suiferer  from  neuralgia,  July  2-5,  1862. 

Dr.  Wallace's  style,  both  as  a  preacher  and  re- 
viewer, was  characterized  by  great  vivacity  and  fresh- 
He  was  very  active  in  ecclesiastical  affairs, 
last  words  were,  "I  move  into  the  light."  f 

Wilson's  •  Presbyterian  Historical  Almanac/'  iv.  130;  Gil- 
letl'a  ry,"  ii.  I 

t  Wilson's  ••  Pv.  sbyterian  Historical  Almanac,"  v.  311. 


102  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Dr.  John  McDoicell  was  born  in  Bed  minster, 
New  Jersey,  September  10,  1780.  He  graduated 
at  Nassau  Hall,  September,  1801,  and  studied 
theology  with  Dr.  John  Woodhull,  of  Freehold, 
New  Jersev.  Passing  through  Elizabeth  town,  lie 
was  unexpectedly  asked  to  preach,  and  made  such 
an  impression,  though  a  stranger  without  introduc- 
tion or  credentials,  that  he  was  invited  to  remain. 
Accordingly,  he  was  ordained  December  26,  1804. 
Frequent  and  powerful  revivals  occurred  under 
his  ministry.  In  twenty-eight  years  and  a  half, 
the  additions  to  the  church,  on  profession  of  faith, 
were  nine  hundred  and  twenty-one.  But  his  health 
requiring  a  change,  he  removed  to  take  charge  of 
the  new  Central  church  of  Philadelphia,  June  6, 
1833.  On  this  occasion  the  elder  who  represented 
the  Elizabethtown  church  before  the  Presbytery 
made  an  eloquent  remonstrance  against  their  pastor's 
removal,  but  in  vain.  Said  he:  "  He  has  received 
us  into  the  church,  he  has  married  us,  he  has  bap- 
tized our  children,  he  has  buried  our  dead,  and  when 
we  die  we  want  him  to  be  buried  amongst  us  and 
break  ground  for  us  on  the  morning  of  the  resur- 
rection." Dr.  McDowell  remained  in  the  Central 
church  for  twelve  and  half  years,  but  his  ministry 
was  not  crowned  with  the  same  success  as  before. 
The  apple  of  discord  was  thrown  among  the  peo- 
ple, and  he  had  committed  the  unpardonable  sin 
of  growing  old.  He  resigned  November  20,  1845. 
But  in  three  weeks  he  started  a  new  church,  the 


SYNOD    OF    PHILADELPHIA.  L03 

Spring  Garden  church,  and  was  followed  by  one 
hundred  and  thirty-six  of  his  former  parishioners. 
Over  this  congregation  he  was  installed  February 
3,  1846,     At  this  time  the  ground  in  the  vicinity 

was  entirely  vacant;  it  was  border  territory.     IJut 

■ 

simultaneously  with  the  new  church — propter  hoc 
as  well  as  post  hoc,  as  I  have  often  observed  when 
Protestant  churches  are  erected — a  new  population 
gradually  poured  in,  and  now  the  ground  is  covered 
with  blocks  on  blocks  of  handsome  buildings  as 
far  as  the  eve  can  see.  This  was  the  house  whose 
roof  was  crushed  by  a  heavy  fall  of  snow  in  1851. 
Here  Dr.  McDowell  labored  with  gratifying  success 
till  his  death,  which  took  place  from  natural  decay, 
February,  1863,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three.  In 
lv,')l  the  late  Mr.  Sutphen  had  been  brought  in  as 
a  colleague  to  relieve  him. 

Dr.  McDowell's  life  was  so  protracted  that  he 
had  the  opportunity  of  taking  part  in  all  the  great 
institutions  of  the  Church  and  benevolent  societies. 
In  1820  he  was  made  moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly.  From  1836  till  1840  he  served  as 
.-rated  clerk. 

Dr.  McDowell  was  a  plain,  practical,  systematic 
preacher,  who  never  sacrificed  to  the  graces.  As 
a  pastor  he  was  unrivaled.  One  thousand  three 
hundred  and  seventeen  persons  were  brought  into 
the  Beveral  churches  to  which  he  ministered  on 
profession  of  faith.  Dr.  McDowell's  was  not  a 
brilliant   but    a    well-rounded    life,  complete    and 


104  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

admirably  proportioned.  He  was  never  out  of 
his  place,  and,  without  the  slightest  pretension,  was 
extensively  useful.  Signally  memorable  was  his 
founding  a  new  and  prosperous  church  at  the  age 
of  sixty-five,  when  his  usefulness  had  been  flip- 
pantly pronounced  at  an  end.  It  was  a  verifica- 
tion of  the  promise,  "  They  shall  still  bring  forth 
fruit  in  old  age/'  Ps.  xcii.  14.  We  are  reminded 
of  the  recent  allusion  to  the  possible  opportunities 
of  age  by  our  popular  poet : 

"What  then  ?     Shall  we  sit  idly  down  and  say 
The  night  hath  come,  it  is  no  longer  day? 
The  night  hath  not  yet  come ;  we  are  not  quite 
Cut  off  from  labor  by  the  failing  light. 
Something  remains  for  us  to  do  or  dare : 
Even  the  oldest  tree  some  fruit  may  bear. 
For  age  is  opportunity  no  less 
Than  youth  itself,  though  in  another  dress, 
And  as  the  evening  twilight  fades  away 
The  sky  is  filled  with  stars,  invisible  by  day."* 

Dr.  McDowell's  published  works  were  a  "Sys- 
tem of  Theology,"  in  two  volumes,  a  "  Bible-Class 
Manual,"  in  two  volumes,  and  "  Bible-Class  Ques- 
tions," the  first  of  the  kind  ever  used.f 

Dr.     Thomas    Brainerd    sprang    from    an    old 

English   family   that  had    emigrated  to   Haddam, 

Connecticut,  in  1649.     The  celebrated  missionary 

brothers  David  and  John  Brainerd,  and  the  poet 

John  G.  C.  Brainerd,  were  of  the  same  stock.     The 

*  Longfellow's  "  Morituri  Salutanms." 

f  Wilson's  "  Presbyterian  Historical  Almanac,"  vi.  175. 


SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA.  105 

Biibject  of  this  sketch  was  horn  June  17,  1804,  in 
Leyden,  Lewis  county,  X.  Y.  He  early  showed 
a  fondness  for  reading,  hut  had  not  the  opportunity 
of  studying  at  any  college.  At  the  a^e  of  seven- 
teen  lie  taught  school,  and  afterward  studied  law  in 
Koine,  X.  Y.  He  was  converted  under  Mr.  Fin- 
ney's preaching  in  1825,  and  soon  after,  under  the 
-tire  of  a  sore  affliction,  he  gave  up  the  law  for 
the  gospel  ministry.  To  obtain  the  means  of  study 
he  taught  a  school  for  a  year  in  the  northern  part 
of  Philadelphia.  After  a  three  years'  course  in 
Andover  Seminary,  he  was  ordained  by  the  Third 
Presbytery  of  Xew  York,  and  immediately  turned 
his  face  westward  with  a  commission  from  the 
Home  Missionary  Society.  His  first  charge  was  in 
the  suburbs  of  Cincinnati,  the  Fourth  church,  in 
X'ovember,  1831.  In  1833  he  was  associated  with 
Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  in  the  Second  church,  and  as- 
sumed the  editorship  of  the  "Cincinnati  Journal." 
In  March,  1837,  he  was  installed  over  the  Third, 
or  Old  Pine  Street,  church,  Philadelphia,  where  he 
remained  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  nearly  thirty  years. 
In  the  year  1864  he  was  made  moderator  of  the 
General  Assembly,  Xew  School. 

\l\<  last  public  service  was  at  Easton,  July  22, 
1866.  Dr.  Bra i nerd  was  invited  by  the  Brainerd 
Evangelical  Society  of  the  college  to  deliver  an 
address  in  the  Brainerd  church,  on  the  very  spot, 
the  forks  of  the  Delaware,  trodden  by  the  feet  of 
those  holy  men  David  and  John  Brainerd  a  cen- 


106  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

turv  before.  Thence  he  went  to  visit  his  married 
(laughter  at  Scranton,  and  for  a  fortnight  gave  rest 
to  his  body  and  mind.  August  21,  1866,  he  took 
a  long  walk,  and  also  engaged  in  an  exciting  dis- 
cussion, and  retired  early,  complaining  of  fatigue. 
At  one  o'clock  his  wife  was  awakened  by  his  ster- 
torous breathing,  but  before  assistance  could  be 
summoned  he  expired,  the  victim  of  apoplexy, 
that  disease  fatal  to  so  many  brain-workers.  On 
the  day  of  his  funeral  the  stores  in  the  neighbor- 
hood were  closed,  the  bell  of  St.  Peter's  (Episcopal) 
church  Avas  tolled,  the  clergy  of  various  denomina- 
tions took  part  in  the  services,  and  the  poor  colored 
people  in  the  alleys  hung  their  bits  of  crape  to  their 
doors  in  memory  of  their  steadfast  friend. 

Dr.  Brainerd  could  not  be  called  a  learned  or 
profound  scholar,  but  he  was  a  man  of  intense  zeal 
and  activity.  "  Quicquid  egit,  fortiter  egit."  Ner- 
vous and  impulsive  in  the  highest  degree,  he  was 
ready  with  voice  or  pen  for  every  emergency.  He 
was  the  promoter  of  several  new  church  enterprises 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  while  no  one  could  say 
"his  own  vineyard  he  had  not  kept,"  for  from 
his  quarter-century  sermon  it  appears  that  he  had 
admitted  a  thousand  communicants  into  the  Old 
Pine  Street  Church.  He  was  equally  at  home  at 
the  monster  prayer-meetings  in  Jayne's  Hall,  rally- 
ing his  fellow-citizens  to  the  support  of  the  national 
flag,  cheering  and  encouraging  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  volunteers  at  the  Union  Refreshment  Sa- 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  107 

loon,  or   leading   the   devotions   of    the   countless 
multitudes  at  the  loyal  rejoicings  in  Independ< 
Square. 

He  contributed  abundantly  to  the  daily  and 
weekly  press, as  well  as  to  the  "  Presbyterian  Quar- 
terly  Review."  He  also  published  a  "  Life  of  John 
Brainerd,"  and  a  score  of  discourses  in  pamphlet 
form.* 

Rev.  William  JL  Enr/lcs,  D.  Z>.,  was  born  in  Phil- 
adelphia, October  12,  1797.  He  graduated  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1815,  studied  the- 
ology with  Dr.  S.  B.  Wylie,  and  was  licensed  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  October  18,  1818. 
July  6,  1820,  he  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  Sev- 
enth, or  Tabernacle,  church,  in  Ranstead  court, 
afterward  famous  as  the  scene  of  the  disruption. 
Here  his  ministry  was  faithful  and  successful,  but 
in  1834  he  was  obliged  to  resign  on  account  of 
throat-ail.  From  the  pulpit  lie  stepped  into  the 
editorial  chair,  succeeding  Dr.  James  W.  Alexan- 
der as  editor  of  the  "  Presbyterian,"  in  which  post 
he  continued  for  thirty-three  years.  Under  his 
supervision  the  paper  attained  an  increased  circula- 
tion and  a  high  reputation  as  the  leading  organ  of 
the  Old  School  party.  In  May,  1838,  he  was  ap- 
pointed editor  of  the  Board  of  Publication,  which 
post  ho  held  for  twenty-live  year-.  In  1840  he 
was  chosen  moderator  of  the  General  Assembly, 
Old  School,  and  then  filled  the  office  of  stated 
*  "Life  of  Dr.  Thoma-  Brainerd,"  by  Mary  Brainerd. 


108  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

clerk  for  six  years.     His  death  was  caused  bv  heart 

-  •> 

disease,  and  occurred  November  27,  1867. 

Dr.  Engles  owed  his  reputation  more  to  his  pen 
than  to  his  pulpit  efforts.  He  was  too  quiet  and 
didactic  to  be  a  popular  preacher.  But  to  say  noth- 
ing of  his  editorial  success,  to  him  the  Board  of 
Publication  was  more  indebted  than  to  any  other 
individual,  according  to  its  own  acknowledgment. 
He  took  an  active  part  in  its  inception  and  progress. 
He  not  only  rescued  from  oblivion  various  valuable 
works  in  danger  of  becoming  obsolete,  but  added 
to  the  Board's  issues  a  number  of  treatises  from  his 
own  prolific  pen.  These  were  published  anony- 
mously, and  hence  it  is  not  here  possible  to  specify 
them.  I  may,  however,  mention  the  little  volume 
entitled  "  Sick-room  Devotions/'  which  has  proved 
of  inestimable  service,  and  "  The  Soldiers'  Pocket- 
book/'  of  which  three  hundred  thousand  copies 
were  circulated  during  the  war. 

Dr.  William  R.  De  Witt  was  born  at  Rhinebeck, 
X.  Y.,  February  25,  1792.  His  ancestors  were 
among  the  first  immigrants  from  Holland  to  Xew 
Netherlands  in  1623.  His  early  years  were  spent 
in  commercial  pursuits;  but  becoming  a  subject  of 
divine  grace  when  eighteen  years  of  age,  he  studied 
for  the  ministry  with  Dr.  Alexander  Proudfit,  of 
Salem,  N.  Y.  His  studies  were,  however,  inter- 
rupted by  his  patriotism,  which  led  him  to  volun- 
teer in  the  war  of  1812  against  Great  Britain.  He 
witnessed   Commodore    McDonough's   victory   on 


BYKOD  OF    PHILADELPHIA.  109 

Lake  Champlain,  September  11,1814.  After  the 
close  of  the  war  he  graduated  at  I'nion  College, 
and  completed  his  theological  studies  under  Dr. 
John  M.  Mason,  of  Xew  York.  In  1818  he  was 
called  to  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Harrisbure, 
and  installed  the  following  vear  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Carlisle.  Though  invited  to  settle  elsewhere, 
he  preferred  not  to  change.  His  ministry  was 
highly  successful,  and  the  church  under  his  care 
grew  in  numbers,  efficiency  and  influence.  For 
half  a  century  he  was  a  power  in  the  surrounding 
region.  "  His  name  was  a  tower  of  strength." 
In  1854  lie  felt  the  necessity  of  taking  a  colleague, 
Rev.  T.  H.  Robinson,  D.  D.,  now  his  successor, 
and  in  1865  was  obliged  to  give  up  all  active  duties. 
Two  years  afterward,  December  23,  1867,  he  quietly 
breathed  his  last,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  his 
age. 

Dr.  De  Witt  was  a  model  preacher  and  pastor. 
He  did  not  believe  in  zeal  without  knowdedge;  and 
while  he  gathered  large  numbers  into  the  church, 
he  was  careful  to  indoctrinate  them  thoroughly,  not 
only  from  the  pulpit,  but  by  patient  drilling  in  the 
Shorter  Catechism.  He  was  of  a  dignified  presence, 
his  voice  was  mellifluous  and  his  manner  was  bland, 
p«  rsuasive  and  deferential.  He  knew  how  to  con- 
ceal the  iron  hand  beneath  the  velvet  glove.  His 
position  was  peculiarly  trying.  Placed  in  the  capi- 
tal of  a  great  State,  he  was  called  to  preach,  not 
before    an   intelligent  congregation  only,  but   also 


110  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

before  multitudes  of  strangers  from  all  part?  of  the 
country — before  legislators,  high  officers  of  govern- 
ment and  members  of  the  learned  professions.  But 
his  pulpit  preparations  were  always  so  carefully 
made  that  he  commanded  the  respect  and  esteem 
of  all  classes.  In  consequence  of  his  peculiar  traits 
of  character  he  was  able  to  exert  a  quiet  but  potent 
influence  over  the  leading  minds  with  which  he  was 
brought  in  contact.*  The  Rev.  John  De  Witt,  of 
Boston,  is  his  son. 

Dr.  George  Duffieldyras  born  in  Lancaster  county, 
Pa.,  in  1794.  At  the  precocious  age  of  sixteen  he 
graduated  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
then  studied  theology  under  Dr.  John  M.  Mason 
in  Xew  York.  In  that  famous  school  he  learned, 
like  all  Dr.  Mason's  pupils,  to  be  an  independent 
thinker.  September  15,  1816,  he  was  ordained 
over  the  church  in  Carlisle,  which,  from  having  lain 
vacant  for  several  years,  had  become  the  prey  of 
factions,  so  that  piety  was  at  a  low  ebb.  The  young 
minister's  preaching  was  pungent,  his  views  of  disci- 
pline rigid  and  his  will  strong.  Some  took  offence, 
but  revival  followed  on  revival,  and  during  his  nine- 
teen years'  pastorate  nearly  seven  hundred  converts 
were  added  to  the  church.  A  visit  to  New  England 
and  Dr.  Taylor  is  supposed  to  have  wrought  a  change 
in  his  theological  sentiments,  which  appeared  in 
his  preaching.  He  also  published  a  book  on  "  Re- 
generation," consisting  of  discourses  previously  de- 
*  Wilson's  "  Historical  Almanac,"  vol.  x.,  page  196. 


SYNOD    OF   PHILADELPHIA.  Ill 

livered  from  the  pulpit,  which  attracted  the  no 
of  his  Presbytery  and  was  condemned  aserroneous. 
From  this  decision  he  appealed  to  the  General 
sembly,  lmt  the  appeal  was  not  presented.  This 
was  in  October,  1832.  The  dissensions  in  the  con- 
gregation waxed  so  warm  that  a  number  of  fami- 
lies withdrew,  and  were  organized  into  the  Second 
church.  In  March,  1835,  Dr.  Dnilield  resigned 
his  charge;  and  after  brief  settlements  in  Xew  York 
and  Philadelphia,  he  was  installed  over  the  church 
in  Detroit,  October  1,  1838.  In  1862  he  was 
chosen  moderator  of  the  General  Assembly,  Xew 
School,  in  Detroit.  He  remained  in  Detroit  till 
his  sudden  death,  in  1867,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
three.  He  died  in  the  harness.  He  was  delivering 
an  address  of  welcome  to  the  You  112:  Men's  Chris- 
tian  Association,  when  he  was  attacked  by  paralysis, 
and  in  a  day  or  two  after  breathed  his  last.  It  is 
a  noteworthy  coincidence  that  three  months  pre- 
viously he  had  preached  in  Carlisle  in  the  morning, 
his  grandson  in  the  afternoon  and  his  son  in  the 
evening;  and  it  may  be  added  that  this  remarkable 
coincidence  occurred  in  the  church  of  which  his 
own  grandfather  had  once  been  the  pastor.  Thus 
"  in-trad  of  the  fathers  shall  be  the  children/5 

As  a  preacher  Dr.  Duffield  was  a  man  of  power, 
a  Boanerges  rather  than  a  Barnabas.  His  style  was 
diffuse,  but  impressive.  His  very  recreations  were 
of  a  grave  kind,  and  in  sickness  he  amused  himself 
with  works  on  mathematics.     His  enemies  called 


112  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

him  dogmatical,  but  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  in 
his  presence  vice  was  abashed  and  profanity  was 
reduced  to  silence. 

Dr.  Duffield's  pulpit  so  resounded  with  the 
thunders  of  the  law  that  a  lady  once  said  she 
wished  Dr.  Duffield  would  remember  there  was 
such  a  text  in  the  Bible  as  "  Comfort  ye  my  peo- 
ple." This  was  carried  to  his  ears,  and  the  next 
Sunday  he  took  it  for  his  text.  "Yes/'  said  he, 
"it  is  the  sweetest  duty  of  ministers  to  comfort 
God's  people;"  and  the  lady  was  delighted  at 
the  prospect  of  hearing  an  old-fashioned  gospel- 
sermon,  when  the  preacher  changed  his  tone  and 
sternly  added,  "  But  for  those  who  are  not  God's 
people  there  is  no  comfort."  And  the  rest  of  the 
sermon  was  in  harmony  with  this  beginning. 

Dr.  Duffield  was  of  a  scientific  turn,  and  his 
writings  were  voluminous.  Besides  pamphlets 
and  reviews  on  a  variety  of  subjects,  he  published 
an  octavo  volume  on  "  Regeneration,"  and  a  book 
entitled  "  Travels  in  Europe  and  the  Holy  Land."* 

George  Junfdn,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  sprung  from  a 
Cameron ian  ancestry  of  the  straitest  sort,  was 
born  November  1,  1790,  near  Carlisle,  in  the 
lovely  Cumberland  Valley,  Pennsylvania.  The 
family  in  1806  removed  to  Mercer  county,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Neshannock.  He  graduated  at 
Jefferson  College,  September,  1813.  He  then 
studied  theology  with  Dr.  Mason  in  New  York. 
*  Dr.  Wing's  funeral  discourse. 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  113 

He  filled  missionary  appointments  for  some  time, 
Bfl  in  the  Thirteenth  Street  or  Margaret  Duncan 
church,  Philadelphia,  the  history  of  which  we 
cannot  stop  to  narrate.  October  17,  1819,  he  was 
settled  over  the  Associate  Reformed  church  in 
Milton,  Pennsylvania,  where  the  lines  did  not  foil 
in  pleasant  places.  In  1822  he  entered  the  Pres- 
byterian connection,  alon^  with  Dr.  Mason  and 
the  great  body  of  the  Associate  Reformed.  In 
1830  he  took  charge  of  a  manual-labor  institution 
in  Germantown.  This  brought  him  into  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia.  In  1831  he  was  chosen 
moderator  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.  His  stay 
in  this  connection  was  short,  for  in  1832  he  accepted 
the  presidency  of  Lafayette  College,  and  in  April, 
1833,  removed  his  membership  to  the  Presbytery 
of  Newton,  in  the  Synod  of  Xew  Jersey.  June 
30,  1835,  he  undertook  his  famous  prosecution  of 
Albert  Barnes  for  doctrinal  error,  before  the  Second 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  He  justified  his  in- 
terference, though  a  member  of  another  Presbytery 
and  Synod,  by  stating  his  belief  that  the  Second 
Presbytery  had  been  formed  for  Mr.  Barnes'  sake, 
and  there  was  no  probability  of  any  member  of  that 
Presbytery  undertaking  the  task.  The  subsequent 
results  have  passed  into  history.  In  August,  1841, 
was  made  president  of  the  Miami  University, 
Ohio.  In  1844  he  was  elected  moderator  of  the 
(  Hd  School  General  Assembly,  and  in  the  same 
year  left  Miami  and   resumed  the   presidency  of 


114  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Lafayette — "  lovely  Lafayette,"  as  he  was  fond  of 
calling  it.  In  October,  1848,  he  saw  fit  to  accept 
the  presidency  of  Washington  College,  Virginia, 
whither  twenty-six  of  his  students  followed  him, 
and  where  he  remained  for  twelve  years.  Then 
were  kindled  the  flames  of  war.  A  secession  flag 
was  run  up  over  the  college  in  direct  violation  of 
his  orders,  and  he  resigned  April  18,  1861.  He 
died  of  angina  pectoris,  in  Philadelphia,  after  a 
brief  illness,  May  20,  1868,  aged  78  years. 

Dr.  Junkin  possessed  a  sturdy  intellect,  and  was 
more  remarkable  for  the  vigorous  grasp  which  he 
took  of  every  subject  he  handled  than  for  the  va- 
riety or  extent  of  his  learning.  Despising  all  affec- 
tation and  dissimulation,  he  was  rather  blunt  and 
brusque  in  his  manner,  and  often  had  a  preoccupied 
air.  In  his  preaching,  which  was  without  notes,  he 
was  exegetical  and  logical ;  and  in  spite  of  his  low 
stature  and  remarkably  shrill  voice,  he  commanded 
the  attention  of  his  hearers.  But  his  exertions  and 
influence  were  not  confined  to  the  pulpit.  He  took 
an  active  part  in  promoting  education,  particularly 
the  school  system  of  Pennsylvania,  emancipation, 
the  national  Union  and  temperance. 

Dr.  Junkin  was  a  voluminous  author.  His  pub- 
lished writings  were  "  Baptism/'  "  The  Prophe- 
cies," " Justification/'  "  Sanctification,"  "Sabbatis- 
mos,"  "  The  Tabernacle,"  "The  Vindication/' 
"Political  Fallacies,"  besides  "Baccalaureate  Ad- 
dresses," "  Literary  Addresses,"  "  Occasional  Dis- 


SYNOD    OF    PHILADELPHIA.  115 

courses,"  and  a  MS.  commentary  on   Hebrews   in 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  quarto  pages,  which  was 

written  alter  his  seventy-fifth  year.* 

Rev.  Albert  Barnes  was  born  in  Rome,  X.  Y., 
tmber  1,  1798.  His  preparatory  studies  were 
conducted  in  Fairfield  Academy,  where  he  gave 
early  promise  of  his  abilities  by  composing,  in  con- 
nection with  two  fellow-students,  a  tragedy  in  verse, 
entitled  "William  Tell;  or,  Switzerland  Deliv- 
ered." Who  knows  how  near  the  distinguished 
commentator  came  to  becoming  a  distinguished 
poet?  When  he  entered  Hamilton  College,  he  was 
decidedly  skeptical.  Bat  his  skepticism  was  re- 
moved by  reading  Chalmers'  article  on  Christianity 
in  the  "Edinburgh  Encyclopaedia/'  and  a  revival 
in  the  college  beheld  him  among  the  converts.  He 
renounced  his  intention  to  study  law,  and  entered 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  in  1820.  After 
taking  the  three  years'  course,  he  remained  for  sev- 
eral months  as  a  resident  graduate.  In  February, 
1825,  he  was  installed  pastor  of  the  church  in  Mor- 
ristown,  X.  J.  Here  his  ministry  was  very  succ<  — 
fill,  and  here  he  commenced  the  preparation  of  his 
commentaries.  Dr.  James  AY.  Alexander  had  also 
red  on  a  similar  work,  at  the  request  of  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union,  but  learning  Mr. 
Barnes'  intention-,  he  gracefully  yielded  the  field 
to  him,  pleading  bis  own  delicate  health. 

June  Mr.  Barn<  pted  a  call  from 

*  "Life  of  Dr.  George  Junkin,"  by  Dr.  D.  X.  Jiii.kin. 


116  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  First  Presbyterian  church  in  Philadelphia,  and 
took  the  first  step  in  a  course  which  was  to  make  his 
name  historic,  in  the  face  of  a  vehement  opposition 
from  some  members  of  the  Presbytery,  who  con- 
sidered his  recently  published  "  Sermon  on  the  Way 
of  Salvation"  unsound.  Party  feeling  between  the 
Old  and  Xew  School  rose  higher  and  higher,  till  at 
length,  in  1835,  Rev.  Dr.  George  Junkin  conceived 
it  his  duty  to  table  charges  against  him  on  the 
ground  of  heterodoxy,  as  evinced  in  his  commentary 
on  Romans,  etc.  The  Presbytery  refusing  to  sus- 
tain these  charges,  Dr.  Junkin  appealed  to  the 
Synod,  who  censured  Mr.  Barnes  and  suspended 
him  from  the  ministry.  To  this  severe  sentence 
he  submitted  without  murmuring:,  abstaining  from 
entering  the  pulpit  on  the  Sabbath ;  but  he  took 
an  appeal  to  the  next  General  Assembly  in  1836. 
That  Assembly,  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  being 
out  of  the  house,  reversed  the  sentence  and  took  off 
the  suspension.  From  this  time  the  altercations 
grew  more  and  more  bitter,  till,  in  1838,  the  work 
of  schism  wras  complete,  and  the  seamless  coat  of 
Christ  was  torn  in  twain.  It  is  proper  here  to  add 
that  when  the  time  for  reunion  arrived  in  1870, 
Mr.  Barnes  took  one  of  the  first  preliminary  steps 
to  facilitate  it  by  gracefully  offering  to  withdraw 
his  books  from  the  shelves  of  the  Publication  Com- 
And  I  suppose  I  may  state  still  further, 
ihat  at  the  time  of  his  demise  so  much  had  the  bit- 
terness of  controversy  subsided  that  his  loss  was 


BYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA,  117 

lamented  as  sincerely  by  his  brethren  of  the  Old 

School  division  as  by  those  of  his  own. 

In  1849  Mr.  Barnes  was  invited  to  a  professor- 
ship in  Lane  Seminary,  which  he  Baw  fit  to  decline. 
In  1851  the  General  Assembly  (New  School)  man- 
ifested their  appreciation  of  their  favorite  champion 
and  ( ioryphseus  by  making  him  moderator.  About 
this  time  his  eyes  began  to  fail,  and  for  a  time  he 
had  to  forego  the  pleasure  of  reading  and  writing. 
Notwithstanding  a  trip  to  Europe  and  the  em- 
ployment of  assistants  in  the  pnlpit,  this  infirmity 
increased  to  such  a  degree  that  in  1868,  having 
reached  the  age  of  seventy,  he  resigned  his  charge, 
much  against  his  people's  wishes.  To  the  last, 
however,  he  continued  to  preach  occasionally  in  the 
churches,  and  regularly  in  the  House  of  Refuge,  of 
which  he  was  a  manager.  Although  the  congrega- 
tion made  him  pastor  emeritus,  the  distance  from 
the  church  of  his  residence  in  West  Philadelphia 
prevented  him  from  rendering  them  much  service, 
and  lie  decidedly  refused  to  receive  anything  in  the 
way  of  salary. 

At  length  the  end  drew  near.  The  call  to  his  re- 
ward surprised  him  in  the  performance  of  a  sacred 
and  tender  duty.  On  December  24, 1870,  he  walked 
a  mile  to  administer  consolation  to  a  bereaved  fam- 
ily, but  had  scarcely  seated  himself  when  he  expe- 
rienced a  difficulty  of  breathing:,  and  suddenly  fall- 
ing  back  in  his  chair,  expired  without  a  struggle. 

Mr.  Barnes'  lame  rests  chiefly  on  his  "Corainen- 


118  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

taries,"  of  which  a  million  copies  have  been  circu- 
lated in  America  and  Great  Britain,  and  transla- 
tions have  been  made  into  several  foreign  languages. 
He  published  a  variety  of  books  and  pamphlets  on 
other  subjects.  His  two  discourses,  "  Life  at  Three- 
score" and  "Life  at  Threescore  and  Ten,"  are 
among  the  most  charming  autobiographies  the  world 
has  ever  seen  ;  they  show  beautifully  how  religion 
can  gild  and  cheer  a  Christian  minister's  closing 
years. 

Mr.  Barnes  rose  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
winter  and  summer,  and  repaired,  lantern  in  hand,  to 
his  study,  which  was  in  the  church  edifice.  Here 
he  remained  till  nine  o'clock,  as  we  learn  from 
his  own  account,  laboring  on  his  " Commentaries," 
and  as  soon  as  the  hour  struck,  such  was  his  adhe- 
rence to  method,  he  laid  down  his  pen,  though  in 
the  middle  of  a  sentence.  Thus,  like  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  his  main  studies  were  over  before  other  men 
had  fairly  begun  their  day's  work.  This  course  he 
adopted  to  forestall  any  insinuations  that  he  was 
infringing  on  time  sacred  to  his  ordinary  pastoral 
duties.  A  night  watchman  once  saw  him  applying 
his  key,  and  not  knowing  his  person  or  his  habits 
kept  a  sharp  eve  on  him,  but  his  suspicions  were 
soon  dissipated  by  hearing  his  voice  in  prayer.  The 
story  has  gained  currency  with  variations  and  the 
student's  jeopardy  has  been  magnified,  but  the  above 
is  all  that  the  family  admit  to  be  authentic. 

As  a  writer  Mr.  Barnes  was  remarkably  clear 


SYNOD   OF    PHILADELPHIA,  119 

and  lucid.  It  wa>  impossible  to  mistake  his  mean- 
ing. 1 1  is  name  appears  without  any  title,  because 
be  was  conscientiously  opposed  to  academic  degrees, 

A-  a  preacher  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  he  stood  at 
the  head  of  his  profession,  in  an  arduous  post,  and 
under  peculiarly  trying  circumstances,  yet  he  com- 
manded to  the  last  the  respect  and  admiration  of 
persons  of  intelligence  and  culture,  both  in  and  out 
of  the  learned  professions.  At  the  same  time,  his 
pulpit  efforts  were  not  coldly  intellectual  and  bar- 
ren. Though  addressed  to  the  judgment,  and  de- 
livered in  a  calm  and  unimpassioned  manner,  like 
those  of  his  great  predecessor,  Dr.  Wilson,  they  were 
solemn  and  impressive,  and  their  faithfulness  and 
pungency  were  attested  by  numerous  revivals.  Dr. 
Skinner  said  of  him  that  he  had  not  left  his  equal 
behind  him.* 

Rev.  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  was 
born  in  North  Carolina  in  1791.  He  graduated  at 
Princeton  College,  and  was  licensed  to  preach  in 
1812.  He  became  co-pastor  with  Dr.  Jane  way  in 
the  Second  church,  Philadelphia.  This  connection 
lasted  till  1816,  when  it  was  dissolved  on  account  of 
theological  differences,  Dr.  Skinner  having  espoused 
the  views  of  the  Xew  School  and  Dr.  Janewav 
being  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Old.  It  is  grat- 
ifying to  know  that  in  these  differences  of  opinion 

*  Wilson's  "  Presbyterian  Almanac,"  vi.  337;  Gillett's  "  His- 
Dr.  Eierrick  Johnson's  memorial  sermon;  "  Lite  at  Three- 
score" and  "  Life  at  Threescore  and  Ten." 


120  BIOGKAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

there  were  no  personal  animosities  involved,  but  that 
the  two  distinguished  clergymen  remained  friends 
to  the  end  of  their  lives.  Dr.  Skinner  quietly  with- 
drew, with  fifty  of  the  parishioners,  and  organized 
the  Arch  Street  church,  which  under  his  eloquent 
and  efficient  ministrations  speedily  attained  a  high 
degree  of  prosperity.  From  this  charge  he  was 
called  to  the  professorship  of  sacred  rhetoric,  in 
Andover.  In  1835  he  became  pastor  of  Mercer 
Street  church,  New  York.  After  thirteen  years  of 
service  there,  he  accepted  the  professorship  of  sa- 
cred rhetoric,  pastoral  theology  and  Church  gov- 
ernment in  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York, 
which  position  he  retained  and  adorned  to  the  close 
of  his  life.  He  died  February  1,  1871,  in  the 
eightieth  year  of  his  age,  in  consequence  of  a  severe 
cold  which  he  caught  while  attending  the  funeral 
of  his  friend  Albert  Barnes,  on  a  cold,  wintry, 
snowy  day  about  a  month  before. 

Dr.  Skinner,  whilst  highly  esteemed  as  a  man  of 
literary  culture  and  mental  power,  commanded  in 
a  peculiar  degree  the  love  of  those  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact.  His  artless  simplicity,  his  cour- 
tesy, his  piety  and  unworldliness,  distinguished  him 
even  among  good  men,  and  strongly  attracted  the 
affections  of  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
He  was  a  prominent  leader  of  the  New  School  party 
in  the  Church,  but  rejoiced  in  the  reunion.  As  a 
preacher  his  style  bore  marks  of  culture  and  polish, 
not   elaborate   or   artificial,  but  natural  and  easy. 


SYNOD  OK    PHILADELPHIA.  121 

The  sword  of  the  Spirit  was  not  bo  wrapt  up  in  the 
flowers  of  rhetoric  as  to  hide  its  point.  On  the  con- 
trary, his  ministry  was  accompanied  by  numerous 

and  powerful  revivals.  Be  was  regarded  as  one  of 
the  best  aeroionizers  in  America.  As  a  professor 
he  was  as  much  at  home  in  the  teacher's  chair  as 

lie  was  in  the  pulpit.  His  students  both  respected 
and  loved  him.* 

I)r.  Skinner's  published  works  were  "  Preaching 
and  Hearing/*'  "  Hints  to  Christians/'  "  Translation 
of  Vinet's  Pastoral  Theology/'  "  Discussions  in 
Theology,"  and  numerous  discourses. 

Rev,  Thomas  V.  Jfoore,  D.  D.,  was  born  in  New- 
ville,  Pa.,  February  1,  1818.  He  was  educated 
partly  at  Hanover  College,  Ind.,  under  the  ven- 
erable Dr.  Blythe,  and  partly  at  Dickinson  Col- 
lege, Carlisle,  where  he  graduated  in  1838.  His 
theological  studies  were  commenced  at  Princeton 
in  1859.  In  the  spring  of  1842  he  was  installed 
pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Carlisle. 
In  1845  he  resigned  in  consequence  of  some  church 
difficulties,  and  accepted  a  call  to  Greencastle.  In 
1847  he  became  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Richmond,  Va.  As  a  preacher,  he  was 
eloquent  and  attractive,  though  some  might  have 
thought  his  style  too  ambitious.  On  account  of 
delicate  health  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  1868,  but  re- 

*  "  Life  of  Dr.  Janeway,"  by  his  son;  "  Presbyterian,"  for 

February,  1- 


122  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

mained  there  only  a  short  time.  He  died  August 
5,  1871. 

He  was  a  voluminous  writer.  His  published 
works  were  "Commentaries  on  the  Prophecies  of 
Ilaggai,  Zechariah  and  Malachi,"  the  prophets  of 
the  restoration ;  "  The  Last  Words  of  Jesus ;" 
"  The  Culdee  Church }"  "  Evidences  of  Christian- 
ity," and  a  number  of  occasional  sermons.  He 
was  a  contributor  to  the  "  Methodist  Quarterly," 
the  "  Richmond  Eclectic  Magazine,"  etc.,  besides 
sharing  in  the  editorship  of  the  "  Central  Presby- 
terian."* 

The  Rev.  Richard  W.  Dickinson,  D.  D.,  was  born 
in  New  York,  November  21,  1804.  He  graduated 
at  Yale  College  in  1823,  and  abandoning  the  pur- 
pose of  studying  the  law,  entered  Princeton  Theo- 
logical Seminary.  Pie  was  ordained  an  evangelist 
by  the  Second  Presbytery  of  New  York  in  1827. 
He  was  settled  over  the  Lancaster  church,  Penn- 
sylvania, November,  1829.  Here  his  ministry  was 
highly  successful.  His  preaching  was  pungent  and 
powerful,  and  a  revival  ensued ;  but  his  voice  fail- 
ing, he  was  compelled  to  resign  in  1834.  He  spent 
some  time  in  foreign  travel,  and  on  his  return  a 
variety  of  offers  were  made  him  of  pulpits  and 
professorships.  October  22,  1839,  he  was  installed 
over  Canal  Street  church.  New  York ;  but  after  a 
few  years  his  health  again  broke  down,  and  he  re- 
signed in  1845.     After  a  rest  of  a  dozen  years,  his 

*  Nevin's  "Men  of  Mark  of  Cumberland  Valley,"  p.  375. 


SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA.  1  23 

health  was  bo  much  improved  that  he  felt  justified 

in  again  putting  on  the  harness,  and  accepted  a 
call  to  the  Mount  Washington  Valley  church,  near 
Fordham,  New  York.  Here  he  remained  till  his 
decease  from  paralysis,  August  1G,  1874,aged  sixty- 
nine  years. 

Dr.  Dickinson  was  one  of  the  rare  examples 
of  the  gospel  winning  its  trophies  among  "  them 
of  Caesar's  household/'  Nature  had  done  much 
for  him,  culture  more.  The  accessories  of  family 
and  fortune  would  have  favored  him  ;  and  had  he 
chosen  to  enter  the  profession  of  the  law,  he  might 
reasonably  have  anticipated  its  highest  honors  and 
rewards.  But  he  preferred  the  humble  and  less 
glittering  path  of  the  gospel  ministry,  and  devoted 
himself  faithfully  and  conscientiously  to  its  self- 
denying  duties,  to  which  he  sacrificed  not  only  his 
prospects,  but  his  health  as  well.  "His  record  is 
on  high." 

Dr.  Dickinson  was  a  gentlemanly,  courteous  and 
dignified  clergyman*  perhaps  a  little  fastidious  in 
his  tastes,  but  a  sincere  and  honest  man.  He 
wielded  a  polished  and  graceful  pen,  and  his 
sermons,  which  he  read  closely,  were  model  com- 
positions. Hi-  published  works  were,  besides  nu- 
inerous  contributions  to  quarterly  reviews  and  other 
periodicals,"  Religion  Teaching  by  Example,"  "Life 
and  Times  of  Howard/'  u  Responses  from  the  Sa- 
id Oracles,"  "  Resurrection  of  Christ,"  etc 
ipplemenl  t<>  u  Princeton  Review,"  p,  148. 


124  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

Rev.  John   ChamberSy  D, D.}  was  born  in  Stew- 
artstown,   Ireland,   December    19,   1797,   and    was 
brought  by  his   parents   to  this  country  while  an 
infant.     After  spending  some  years  in  Ohio,  tiny- 
removed  to  Baltimore,  where  the  son  was  employed 
in    mercantile    life.     At   the   age   of  seventeen    he 
connected    himself   with    the    Associate    Reformed 
church   under  Rev.  John  M.  Duncan,  and  was  by 
that    eminent   divine    induced   to   prepare    for  the 
ministry,  which    he   did    under    his   direction.     In 
May,  1825,  he  was  installed  pastor  of  the  Ninth 
Associate  Reformed  church  in  Philadelphia.     The 
congregation  were  worshiping  in  a  house  built  on 
Thirteenth  above  Market  street  by  Margaret  Dun- 
can, Rev.  Mr.  Duncan's  mother,  in  pursuance  of  a 
vow  made  by  her  when  in  imminent  peril  of  ship- 
wreck.   In  1831  they  removed  to  their  present  noble 
edifice  at  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Sansom  streets. 
When  Mr.  Duncan,  about  this  time,  renounced  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  into  which  the  Associate  Reformed, 
with  Dr.  Mason  and  others,  had  been  merged,  Dr. 
Chambers    followed    his   example   from   sympathy 
with  his  teacher.     His  church  was  known  as  the 
First  Independent  church  till  October,  1873,  when 
he   and    his    congregation   again  sought   and    were 
cheerfully  admitted  to  a  connection  with  the  Pres- 
byterian  body.     The   reception   of  this   large  and 
influential  church,  with  their  esteemed  pastor,  was 
hailed  at  the  time  as  an  event  of  the  most  inter- 


SYNOD   OF   PHILADELPHIA.  125 

esting  kind.     By  order  of  the  Presbytery  of  Phil- 
adelphia, the  Btyle  of  the  church  was  changed,  in 

honor  of  the  pastor,  to  "  The  Chambers  Presby- 
terian Church, w 

In  May,  1875,  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Dr. 
Chambers3  pastorate  was  joyously  celebrated,  on 
which  occasion  he  delivered  a  historical  sermon, 
containing,  among  other  items  of  interest,  the  state- 
ment that  he  had  received  three  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  eighty-six  members  into  the  church,  of 
whom  twelve  hundred  are  the  number  constituting 
the  present  actual  membership;  that  between  thirty 
and  forty  young  men  had  entered  the  gospel  min- 
i-try; that  he  had  married  two  thousand  three 
hundred  and  twenty-nine  couples,  and  had  attended 
between  four  thousand  and  five  thousand  funerals. 
He  had  preached  on  an  average  three  sermons  a 
week,  which,  for  fifty  years,  would  amount  to  a 
grand  total  (allowing  necessary  deductions)  of  more 
than  seven  thousand  sermons.  Dr.  Chambers  was 
no  friend  to  sensational  novelties  of  any  sort,  yet 
he  had  an  extraordinary  hold  on  the  young  people, 
and  his  weeknight  prayer-meetings,  with  an  attend 
ance  of  three  hundred,  were  a  standing  wonder. 

It  is  due  to  truth  to  state,  however,  that  his  pastoral 
career  was  not  uniformly  smooth.  During  the  late 
unhappy  collision  with  the  South  his  opposition  to 
all  war,  joined  with  his  pronounced  political  senti- 
in<  Us,  led  to  the  withdrawal  of  some  of  his  elders 
and  others  who  could  not  see  eye  to  eye  with  him ; 


126  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

but  this  action  was  not  embittered  by  any  personal 
dislikes. 

Dr.  Chambers'  conspicuous  attribute  was  power. 
For  the  sake  of  that  commanding  influence  which 
he  exerted  over  the  masses,  he  deliberately  sacri- 
ficed book-learning  and  minute  criticism.  Bold 
and  frank  in  the  expression  of  his  opinions,  even 
those  who  differed  with  him  could  not  but  respect 
and  admire  his  courage.  He  fearlessly  attacked 
the  crying  abuses,  vices  and  errors  of  the  day,  and 
was  sometimes  threatened  with  personal  violence 
on  account  of  his  plainness  of  speech.  He  scourged 
the  men  of  Succoth  with  thorns.  Like  John  Knox, 
he  called  a  spade  a  spade.  His  majestic  person,  his 
leonine  mien,  his  clarion  voice,  his  unquestionable 
sincerity,  added  weight  to  the  fulminations  of  the 
pulpit.  All  that  saw  him,  all  that  heard  him,  bore 
witness,  voluntarily  or  involuntarily,  that  "this 
was  a  man."  Like  the  prophets  of  the  olden  time, 
he  only  lived  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  his 
sole  concern  was  to  preach  the  preaching  that  the 
Lord  bade  him. 

Four  brief  months  after  the  remarkable  ovation 
of  his  fiftieth  anniversary,  toward  midnight  on  the 
22d  of  September  of  the  present  year,  1875,  his 
useful  life  was  brought  to  a  close.  The  foundation 
for  the  malady  that  took  him  off  had  been  laid  by 
partial  paralysis  two  years  previously.  Perhaps  it 
is  not  too  much  to  say  that  no  man  could  have  died 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  more  sincerely  or  more 


-YV  >D   OF    PHILADELPHIA.  127 

widely  lamented  by  all  classes  of  society  and  all 
denominations  of  ( Ihristians. 

Mv  task  is  done.  It  lias  been  laborious,  but  it 
has  been  a  labor  of  love.  One  only  regret  attend- 
ing it  i-  that  the  work  ha-  been  so  imperfectly  per- 
formed, and  that  for  want  of  time  some  name-  have 

ssarily  omitted  which  I  would  gladly  have 
retained.  The  rising  sun  illuminates  only  the  high- 
est  mountain  peaks,  leaving  the  rest  in  shadow. 
To  a  similar  course  I  have  been  compelled  by  the 
Btrict  instructions  of  the  Synod.     Imperfect  as  this 

rological  list  is,  it  reveal-  a  host  of  distinguished 
ministers  of  the  gospel  of  whose  learning  and  vir- 

-  any  Synod  might  be  proud.  Rather  are  we 
not  called  to  exercise  deep  gratitude  to  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church  for  his  bounteous  ascension 
gifts,  and  should  we  not,  in  reliance  on  divine 
grace,  sedulously  imitate  such  bright  examples? 


INDEX  TO  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


KB.  PK\TH.       PAGE 

Smith.  1790      46 

Daffield 1790 

Jan*     :  1793      49 

John  Blair  Smith 17 

John  <  Iraighead 1799 

1  - 

Patrick  Allison 18 

Charles  Nisbel 18 

John  Blair  Linn 18 


128  INDEX. 


NAME.                                                                                                                             DEATIT.  PAGE 

Robert  Cooper 1805  58 

John  King.. 1811  59 

Nathaniel  Irwin 1811  60 

Robert  Davidson 1812  61 

James  Inglis 1820  63 

John  Mcknight 1823  64 

William  Ashmead 1829  65 

James  P.Wilson 1830  66 

Ebenezer  Dickev 1831  67 

Joseph  Patterson 1831  68 

John  Glendv.: 1832  69 

John  McMillan 1833  71 

William  Nevins 1835  72 

James  Patterson 1837  74 

Joshua  Williams 1838  75 

John  Breckenridge 1841  76 

Samuel  G.Winchester 1841  78 

William  Paxton 1845  79 

Ashbel  Green 1848  80 

Henrv  R.  Wilson 1849  82 

Robert  Cathcart 1849  83 

Cornelius  C.  Cuyler 1850  84 

Archibald  Alexander 1851  85 

Dariel  L.  Carroll 1851  88 

David  McConaughy 1852  88 

Richard  Webster 1856  89 

Jacob  J.  Janewav 1858  91 

William  McCalla 1859  92 

William  Neill 1860  94 

Francis  Herron 1860  95 

Nicholas  Murrav 1861  97 

Ezrx  Styles  Ely.. 1861  99 

Benjamin  J.  Wallace 1862  101 

John  McDowell 1863  102 

The  mas  Brainerd 1866  104 

William  M.  Engles 1867  107 

William  R.  De  Witt 1867  108 

George  Duffield 1837  110 

George  Junkin 1868  112 

Albert  Barnes ,.• 1870  115 

Thomas  H.  Skinner 1871  119 

Thomas  V.  Moore 1871  121 

Richard  W.  Dickinson U  74  122 

John  Chambers Ib75  124 


